THE WAVE WANDERINGS
This is a prologue of two completely different characters of which I am sure many stories are to come. There is the Storm Beggar and the Calm Seeker, they both see and react to the world around them in completely different ways. And yet I find the characters of both in myself... There are times where I would prefer chaos to the calm, and there are other times where I have become so comfortable in the calm that I have forgotten that I don't have to fear the storms. I was made for storms- not to fear them but to rejoice in them. And made also, for the calm; to listen, receive, and give.
There is a time and season for it all.
THE STORM BEGGAR
She stood in the calm, watching the waves.
They were moving steadily, but she was waiting for more; she was waiting for a storm. She looked to the skies; a clear blue reflecting the waters beneath them. She felt fear begin to grip her heart as she scanned the horizon without catching a single wave. The day was calm and not a storm was in sight beyond the one that now tossed in her own heart. She could handle the storms, the winds, and the waves.... Tossing the boat to and fro, snatching the helm from her hands... In the storm she had no choice but to let the waves take her... It was the calm that frightened her. In the storm she couldn't see beyond a wave, as another spurred her on, there was no need to fear or wonder at what lay ahead, for in a storm; ready or not, you would meet it soon enough. But in the calm, she felt the pressure settle in.
The choice was hers, and indeed she must choose. Where to next? She could see it all- the horizon, what lay behind her, what could possibly lie ahead. The possibilities were endless now. All the places she could go, all the places she could see, and oh all the places she could fall in to, all the places she could miss should she choose the wrong way. The wrong direction, the wrong wave. It was freedom. It was danger. It was calm; and she was longing for the chaos. She knew how to hold on in the storm but she didn't know how to let go in the calm. There was no wind to steal the helm from her grasp, no waves to break the rudder's control. Nothing. Only her decisions remained to guide her.... She stood staring at the sky, begging, just begging for a storm to come, for the waves to rise. But without a cloud in sight she knew what she had to do. She had to choose. She couldn't just go with the winds, but she couldn't just stay either. There had to be somewhere for her to go, something for her to do... Pulling out her compass she pulled the helm to True North. Slowly but steadily the ship began to turn and slowly but steadily the ship began to go nowhere else. She fell to her knees in desperation, in the moment there seemed to be nothing more that she could do. Nothing more but to face what had been and all that could be. It was time to fix the torn sail. Time to clear the deck of all the debris from the passage of time.. There was no storm, no distraction, no chaos. For the storm beggar, that was the scariest time of all.
The now.
The now that rarely gave a wave to blame or hide behind.. The now where she stood in the calm. It was time to make her own waves and not just survive the ones the world threw at her. But she couldn't do that with a hurting ship; looking up she began to climb the mast to the torn sail. She intended to make big waves one day, those were her favorites. She didn't much like the calm waves that overlapped with others, the ones that hardly moved alone without being pushed by another. She knew she could never make the kind of big waves she intended with a torn sail, not with a broken ship. It was time for the calm. It was time to heal, to fix the broken pieces. It was time to prepare. For a storm would come again, not one to be survived, one to be embraced. She was a storm in the calm, not a calm in the storm. It seemed to be what the world needed at the moment, what she needed at the moment. Her ship was capable of surviving stronger winds... but not now. It needed to learn how to survive the calm first.
And so, the storm beggar began to mend the brokenness.
THE CALM SEEKER
She opened her eyes and smiled as the warmth of the sun's rays embraced her, welcoming the day with open arms she scanned the horizon.
Breathing deeply, "Oh the calm." It was beautiful. And just the way she liked things. Like the waves surrounding her, in sight and predictable. The kind of waves that her ship could easily glide through. She stepped out of bed, preparing herself for the day that she knew so well. A calm day. Awake, arise, watch the waves come and go. A calm day, a beautiful day. She gazed out at the sea, feeling the winds whisper, unable to hear what they were saying she leaned closer. The winds tugged at the sails clinging to the mast, "Come away." The winds whispered, "Come see the world." But the sails simply looked down at their captain on the deck, knowing they could go no farther than she would take them. Curling around the ship the wind leaned in close to the girls ear, "Let's go." It whispered. Frowning, the girl shook her head at the wind. That unpredictable, unrelenting wind. She wasn't going anywhere with it, the only place wind could lead her was into a storm. Or worse, a wreck. The wind howled at her defiance, its cry catching the attention of the waves. Rolling, they rose a little here, a little there, just trying to catch what the wind was saying. The girl's heart began to race in fear at the movement around her. The waves, why were they turning like this? The wind, why was it whispering so? She feared the storm, she feared the waves, she feared the thunder. She feared the chaos. In the storm she had no control, in the storm she could so easily break, she could crumble. She didn't know if she could survive. If she could survive not knowing what lie ahead or where she was being taken. If her ship could even carry the weight of all the unknown.
The questions raced through her mind faster than the waves that began to surround her. She was scared; but in the calm she had forgotten something. She had forgotten that her ship was made for stronger winds. Her sails for higher waves. She wasn't intended for the calm, not always. She was made for the chaos. Her ship , a vessel to carry the same hope she clung to in the calm, into the storm. The winds were unpredictable and the waves were high. And her ship was steady. Her ship was strong, her sails ready... Was she? She was more ready than she knew. Her ship was made for stronger winds and so was she. For a strong ship, strong winds weren't a force to be reckoned with, but one to be carried away by; to farther shores, to new adventures. It wasn't a battle to survive, it was a chance to thrive. She was a calm seeker, but she would soon see the glories of the chaos. The glories of a storm ready to stir up something new. So as the wind beckoned once more, "Come away." The calm seeker tore her eyes away from the horizon line and to the skies as she released her grip on the helm.. "I'm coming." She whispered.
And so the dance began.
The waves began to rise, the tides came, the winds beckoned, and never imagined shores began to draw closer.