Words that I like: SOLACE

Words that I like: solace
English is my second language. As an apprentice of the language, I appreciate words, some more than others but all words have their independent meaning and reason of being. Big as opposed to tall can be an offensive word to a dear friend of mine. She is not big, she is tall; handsomely so. Words may hurt way deeper than sticks and stones. The wounds from words may not seem real but the scars on our souls can really burn for a lifetime.
Life itself can be unfair at times. Changing fortunes, declining health, love not corresponded, deceiving people; all of those and many more can tax one’s soul beyond despair. And despair can be a dark and bitter enemy whose thorns claw flesh and spirit shredding our will.
Enter solace. A drink of life giving water in the midst of Death Valley. Solace comes in many forms. You have felt solace in the kind words of a friend, the smile of innocence, a silent embrace that warms and soothes; so many can be the sources of solace. Unfortunately, sometimes friends are not there, innocence is lost, loving arms can be distant in place or time. Solace has to be found in more permanent places. I have several sources of precious solace but none better than the solace found on the water, out there where nothing is but the sea, you and the vessel you burden. Yeah, the grand cathedral of creation receiving one more hungry soul. Her face changes all the time but mother ocean is always there for us. Her winds a whisper or a scream, her watery skin calm or agitated, her, always present in all her unabated glory. In her I find solace. Tiller in hand, I ride her surface. Feeling the wave under my vessel, the winds in the sail, the perennial motion of her substance. Absorbed in this environment solace presents itself. I lose myself in the moment, however long the moment lasts. And in those moments, innocence is found and a loving mother embraces my soul and whispers in my ears the words of Desiderata, particularly this verse,
“You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
It beats me up but I sure love sailing that Laser!!