My blood flows in rhythm with the sea. The salt in my veins reflects human evolution in its earliest form. My blood responds to the ebb and flow of the ship beneath my feet as it transverses the deep blue, mysterious ocean. When I am on our schooner, my body’s cadence radiates the resonance of the earth, a melody released by the siren’s song of the sea. It is a beat that becomes manifest when my mind is cleared of expectations, of desires, of the need to be. The repetitive sameness of the undulation of the waves combined with the vision of uninterrupted horizons release the sonata of my being. When days consist of nothing but ocean and sky, when drifting upon the ocean with destination still a distant reality, a peace descends upon me which connects me to the oneness of life.

I brace my legs as I rock and sway with the ship, a waltz performed in a musical of calm embrace, to a tune of perfect peace. The ship careens across the vast expanse of blue, and the lyrics of my heart connect to the eternal symphony of creation. The wind’s fingers strum staccato notes on the schooner’s sails, and Satori’s shrouds and stays compose a toccata of their own design. Like cymbals joining the arrangement, the bow wave’s percussion beacons distant dolphins to come and dance upon its thrust. The dolphins arrive, with their sparkling black eyes in grey faces and mouths curled in permanent smiles of delight. They rotate on their side to look at the humans on the bowsprit above. After acknowledging their audience, they begin their promenade on the bow’s curl, taking turns as they increase the beat, racing forward in bursts of immense speed to leap from the water’s surface in a break dance of glorious joy! We take turns at the helm, so each of us can experience this choreography of the sea.

Frigate birds with boomerang-shaped wings dive overhead, sweeping the sky like a conductor’s baton, finally coming to rest in Satori’s rigging. Dressed in formal attire of red-puffed cravats above their black tuxedos, they become additional audience in this symphony of the sea. The whales join us before the end of our voyage in a chorus of harmony, breaching in a bass drum crescendo of breathtaking beauty. Their spouts radiate rainbows above us, raining salt-rich perfume of fish and brine, smells our own bodies reflect after days sailing under a tropical sun. The salt in my blood stirs in answer to their call.

With oncoming darkness, a building storm increases the tempo. Breakers crash against the hull of our small ship as it plows through turbulent wind. We fill and light our kerosene lamps, and place them on the name boards at the bow. Their pale glow of green and red cast ghostly reflections, barely visible from our cockpit. Suiting up in foul-weather gear, we shorten sail as the winds trumpet to gale-force. The sea marches to the storm’s beat. The storm reaches a climax as loud as a full military band. My blood races in fear, yet my inner being knows I am safe; Satori and the ocean are my guides. At the wheel, the force of following seas against the rudder becomes too much for my arms to hold against, so I wedge my feet between the teak spokes, holding tight against the yaw of the ship as it tangos down the face of each swell. Above the cacophony, I scream a prayer for the return of calm, a return of a lullaby from Neptune. I give thanks for no near shore as I hold our bearing, navigating through rain-stung vision and dead reckoning toward dawn’s early light.

Pale shades of grey announce a coming of light, and of peace. Golden rays break through the clouds to reflect vast rollers topped by wind-swept , glistening whitecaps. Flying fish burst from the white, frothy, Poseidon fingers. Their translucent wings glimmer blue and pink as they ballet across Satori’s deck. Our cat, Blabber, runs forward and snatches a fish from flight, a breakfast reward for her patience of waiting below decks during the storm.

As the pace slows and daylight eases the tension of the unknown, I succumb to the full appreciation of the majesty of the dance. The instrumental strumming from the depth of the sea floor floats into the essence of my being, stirring lyrics of my soul. I know the song. I know what is teaching me. The sea is a meditation of the universe, manifest on earth for our awareness, for our awakening. The sea is the voice of creation.