0. Taking A Dive. The Fool

    As you stand on the beach you have familiarized yourself with over the years, your gaze fixates on the crashing waves in front of you. This beach holds meaning for you, it's where you go when you need to think, when you need to let your brain air out for a while. Whenever the world becomes too much for you, you come to this beach that has become your haven over the years. Each time you arrive, the waves become stronger, as if welcoming your return.

    In an attempt to bring yourself into the present moment, you sit down on the blanket you had brought with you and begin to take in all of your surroundings. You can feel the crisp cool ocean breeze against your skin as you breathe rhythmically, matching the tempo of the waves. The smell of the ocean is pleasant as it enters your system and flushes out the negative energy you had built up within. Eventually, your eyes land on the ocean that seems as though it is alive as its waves crash with purpose on the shore. Looking at the horizon, you're unable to see where the ocean ends and the rest of the world begins and you feel smaller, part of a bigger picture. Just as you are a small cog in a machine much larger than yourself, so is every other person, animal, and plant. Looking down at the millions of grains of sand that surround the island your blanket has created, you feel yourself getting lost in the vastness of the world around you. How long would it take for you to count every grain on this beach? From space, we become as indistinguishable as grains of sand, each of us blends into the other. Every day, we get so caught up in our own lives that we believe ourselves to be the only person that matters. As we stress over whatever may be going on in our daily lives, there are trillions of other humans and creatures going through the same thing.

    Your mind wanders towards the lives of living things deep within the ocean, thinking about each creature that plays a specific and important part in the never-ending cycle of their existence. Curiosity begins to well up inside of you as you wonder about the worlds unbeknownst to you below the surface of the water. The ocean that's waves continue to crash against the shore in front of you is not new territory but what comes after is. You begin to wonder how deep you might be able to swim before you would have to return to land and how many different types of life you would see before then. Armed with a strong sense of determination and a pair of goggles, you make your way towards the water and stand on the shore, close enough that your feet begin to sink in the heavy sand. You slowly take steps forward, feeling the sand continue to give way beneath your feet. As you walk further towards the ocean, the waves begin to crash against your calves, slowly making their way up your body as you begin your descent, sending chills through it. The water was not too cold, not so that it was uncomfortable. You use the time before you are fully engulfed by the ocean to put on your goggles, making sure they're tight on your head. Waves continue to crash against your torso, threatening to tear you down, but you're able to withstand their efforts. You take a deep breath, holding your mouth shut, and dive into the water.

    Once the ocean has fully consumed your body, you open your eyes and are met with a drop off in the ocean to your left, after it is only dark blue for what seems like forever. Keeping a distance from the dark blue abyss as you swim, you hear the echoes of a whale from the depths reach your ears and while you don't understand the language spoken to you, you feel as though there is a sense of needing in the cries of the whale. The song of the abyssal creature vibrates against your skin, sending a strange sensation throughout your body. The whale continues to cry out every few minutes and as you listen to the chorus created by the ocean, you wonder if the whale is singing for you to continue deeper. On your right, a more elevated part of the ocean stood, on it a beautifully thick kelp forest. The bright and beautiful greens of the seaweed swayed back and forth, with the breathing of the ocean. Your heart has reached a related tempo as the whale serenades you while you admire the kelp. You slowly relax your face, and without thinking, begin to take a breath of the water in front of you. You can't explain it but somehow you're able to breathe! You stay in position, breathing in the water and trying to understand this sensation that feels like you're breathing, but not taking any water in. You put your hand in front of your mouth and breathe, noticing that you feel pressure on your hand as you exhale but by breathing you don't create any bubbles. The only explanation you're able to think of is that the ocean has given you a gift. It's as if the ocean is beckoning you on a journey; your journey into the abyss.