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The Bosom of the Pacific

May 22, 2010 ~ Filed Under: Sermons From the Sofa

Hawaiian_Monk_Seal By Rev. Noah “D” Hess

After reading the Italian Dudeship Andrea Favro’s article, May The Deuce Be With You, I did a little bit of traveling and a lot of thinking. I really enjoyed his Dudeship’s article, especially the far out stuff about being the centre of your own universe. He also mentioned meditation, which is something I’ve been struggling with lately.

Living in Hawaii, I threw out my thumb and ended up on Poipu beach where I saw a huge 150-200 LB Hawaiian monk seal. The seal was just resting on the beach, completely surrounded by slack-jawed tourists and without a care in the world. I could tell he had been there a while too, because someone had erected a fence around the vicinity complete with signs scrawled with tidbits of information on how he was an endangered species, and not to be fucked around with.

monk seal I would like to feel like that seal.

Lately dudes, I’ve been trying to find some peace. My inner dude. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a stressful guy by any means. Even this past week of college finals while all of my friends have been running around cramming for tests and pulling their hair out, I sit idly and sip on Caucasians using my textbooks as a coaster. Any way, what I’m blathering about here is simply that recently, my thoughts have been feeling increasingly scattered, like the ashes of so many friends.

I walked on past the seal and sat alone on some partially submerged volcanic rocks. I tried to meditate. I pulled up my legs. I straitened my back. I placed my hands together. I took slow, deliberate breaths and used the ocean waves to drown out distractions and concentrate on nothing. And sat. And sat. And listened to my mind blather on and on, ignorant of the fact I was trying to be quiet and calm.

Eventually, I hung my head in defeat and walked back t’ward the sand. That’s when a engrish-funny-snorkling-sex brand new friend of mine handed me his snorkeling gear and told me to try it out. I’m not a strong swimmer and I’ve not had good experiences when it comes to being around water, but I could not deny him or the smile so big it could have torn his face in half.

I put on the flippers and mask and walked awkwardly into the bosom of the pacific. Placing my face into the water, I was immediately greeted by colorful, carefree fish and other critters. Swimming around came rather naturally and I lazily chased a fat orange fish away from the beach and closer to the reef. The only sound came from the deep, slightly panicked breaths I took through the snorkel, magnifying the sound like a reverse-muffler. As I stopped swimming to stare at a school of hungry fishlings, I could feel myself being lifted, lowered, pushed and pulled by the rolling waves. I had no control of where I was going or when and let me tell you, it felt great. Despite my former reservations, I felt amazingly calm and relaxed. Perhaps like a monk seal might feel.

lebowskiTubThat’s when I realized, my thinking had become very uptight; going by the books instead of what just felt right, trying to conform myself to traditional methods of meditation and what works for other people. The feeling I had failed to achieve while looking for it, simply swam up and revealed itself to me. All I had to do was take it easy.

Well, that about seal’s er up.

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Comments

  1. Rev Wendy says

    May 22, 2010 at 3:50 pm

    Sounds marvelous! I am totally jealous you live in Hawaii…it’s the only place on Earth I feel called to live, besides right here
    sounds like a far out experience man. kudos, do u plan on snorkeling as repetitively and with as much joy as other natural , zesty enterprises?

  2. Noah D. says

    May 23, 2010 at 12:03 am

    Absolutely! I’ll be getting my own mask/fins set soon as pay day rolls around. Snorkeling is about the zestiest thing I’ve done in a while, and the sign above is correct. The more you do it, the better it gets.

  3. Phil says

    May 23, 2010 at 12:12 am

    I agree totaly! I am a sailer in the Pacific NW US on the Salish Sea around the San Juan Islands and Seattle and love waking up on our 30 ft sailboat at anchor with eagles in the trees, sea otters fishing 5 ft from our boat, sealions belching a fresh salmon with harbor seals crusing by like the neighborhood dog, everything is meditation with only intent and the autopilot with a breeze sailing our boat to the next port for icecream.

  4. The Arch Dudeship says

    May 24, 2010 at 5:59 pm

    Good stuff, man. :-)

  5. Rev. Ed C says

    June 27, 2010 at 12:48 am

    As deep as the ocean, Rev. D, deep as the ocean!

    I’ve often wondered if my total lack of tree-climbing and oceanic-swimming is somehow connected to me being far removed from my ancestory. Perhaps when I get the chance I can go back to my roots in trees and seas… or maybe I’ll do my usual and pull up a deckchair (aka, the outdoor recliner).

  6. Rev. AF says

    October 27, 2010 at 12:01 am

    It’s an honor to have inspired such a great article Rev. Very beautiful and so deep. I dig your style a lot, man, and the monk seal’s too. I usually take the otter or a cat as good examples of taking life easy, but I’ll add the seal too. Well done man, both thumbs up and rated. :)

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