Ahhh, summer. And what I really mean to say is, ahhh the beach. As I absorb the average woes of this particularly rainy May Monday *sigh*, I have my butt planted in the most comfortable recliner at my beach house, where my butt is also planted for the rest of the summer. However I wish my butt was planted on a beach chair.

Aside from my impending internship with College Fashionista and my summer job, responsibility during these next few months is much like today’s weather-bleak. And I’m okay with that. That’s what summer’s for, right? RIGHT. The three R’s-Rest, relaxation, and rays.

When I’m not working and when the weather isn’t being a stubborn 1-3-itch (<—3rd grade me is laughing even if you aren’t) like it is today, you can find me at the beach. Always. I have a deep love for the ocean that has only grown stronger as I get older. For my fellow writers, you may be familiar with “This I Believe”, which is an “international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives”. In my sophomore fall semester, I submitted an essay for thisibelieve.org. After a long, Sunday walk on the beach yesterday, I was inspired to do a few revisions. Here is a shorter version of my original “This I Believe” essay, which I posted a few months ago if you’re interested in the original submission. However, like wine, cheese, and I like to think myself, this one got better with age and maturity. (Two of those three are some of my favorite things, I’ll let you decide which. Discretion is advised;)

The ocean is something I strongly believe in. And I don’t believe in it like a cliche country song, or that it’s my only form of therapy. There are lot’s of those for me. I believe in the ocean. I believe in undiscoverable depths, floors that I can’t explore and species I will never know. I believe in trusting what we believe is there, but may never see for ourselves. So maybe, the ocean is a religion. I believe that. I believe in the relationship between the mood and the tide, and the relationship between the tides and the shore. Both separate, yet so codependent. I believe in the way that no one sees or feels gravity, yet it is the only thing that keeps us grounded, keeps us steady and constant, keeps us from plunging to our mysterious, post atmospheric deaths. I believe in the ocean because I believe that it is the most powerful relationships that may not be understood as much as they are felt. I believe in the ocean.