River Ripples… Ocean Waves: Ocean Possibilities Explained
by Manuel A. Luna-Murray
Why River Words… Ocean Possibilities, you ask? Let me explain. Three and a half years after graduating from college with an English degree I continually struggled with finding a new direction and a sense of purpose. I always felt that I had so much talent locked away waiting to be released onto the world but that I always lacked both the means and the platform to do so. Furthermore, I found myself stuck in a boring and unfulfilling job slowly eroding away my self-worth, self-confidence, and motivation.
On a fateful Friday morning my ears began ringing with a steady stream of words and images sweeping me across a vast continent awashed in ocean waves of peace and tranquility. The first tiny ripple began with the incessant chorus of a song titled A River to the Sea by Reigning Mercy. (The full song can be found at the end of this post.) The main chorus is as follows:
A River to the Sea
This is how my life
Seems to me
Certain only of uncertainty
Stronger with each mile
I leave behind
Deeper water calling me
Like a River to the Sea
And so it dawned on me that perhaps this journey called life is not so much about finding yourself but much more about creating yourself. Life is not about finding the answers but about deepening the questions as one of my closest friends used to say. So I began questioning everything: my goals, my dreams, my expectations, my hopes, my successes, my failures and I arrived at one inescapable truth — change is the law of life. Only when I began to accept change and stopped trying to hang on to the static past and limit myself to the ubiquitous present did I begin to envision a boundless future devoid of the illusion of control. And yet, the river’s redemptive miracle did not end with simply acknowledging the aforementioned truths but instead continued to further expand its territory into the deepest recesses of my heart and mind. This Pisces still had many more lessons to learn and many more miles to swim before reaching the Ocean of Possibility.
As A River to the Sea rippled throughout the currents of my mind another equally soothing and compelling melody lodged itself onto my psyche imploring an audience with my conscious mind. River God by Nichole Nordeman expresses the fleeting feeling of life drifting away until the River God begins smoothing away the persona’s rough edges as depicted in the following lines:
Rolling River God
Little Stones are Smooth
Only once the water passes through
So I am a stone
Rough and grainy still
Trying to reconcile this river’s chill
But when I close my eyes
And feel you rushing by
I know that time brings change
And change takes time
And when the sunset comes
My prayer would be this one
That you might pick me up
And notice that I am
Just a little smoother in your hand
Sometimes raging wild
Sometimes swollen high
Never have I known this river dry
The deepest part of you
Is where I want to stay
And feel the sharpest edges wash away
This song brought into sharp relief the myriad rough edges in my attitudes, self-limiting beliefs, hopelessness, despair, and anxiety by highlighting the idea that we each begin life as rough stones beaten by life along with all the foibles of being human. However, if we simply accept this reality as an unchanging fact, we will never become the smooth stones we were intended to become to help others across the raging rivers of their lives and onto the Promised Land awaiting on the other side. Remember that a static river (one completely weighed down by the past) is a dying and shallow river. Static rivers contain only rough and grainy stones whose character remains a shapeless formless void. Not wishing to remain a shapeless formless void and desiring to become a stepping stone for others’ life purpose, I set about finding ways to smooth out my edges by not only accepting change but also actively seeking it and wholeheartedly accepting it.
Fast-forward 4 ½ years beyond that fateful Friday morning river ripple encounter. A new path and renewed sense of purpose permeates this once-river-now-turned-sea-soon-to-be-ocean-wave-possibility-epiphany. Having learned that stilled waters run deep and rushing streams far reach, I decided to share my insights and experience through my writing. I imagined myself a river ripple whose writing could become an ocean wave catalyst of faith, hope, love, and encouragement for others to smooth their edges. In doing so, those newly smoothed stones could then become stepping-stones for others to overcome their challenges thus creating a domino effect of positive reinforcement. That is when the idea for this blog emerged. Searching for a fitting title that would encompass the breadth and depth of the ideas I wished to explore, I remembered my Ocean Possibility poem and derived the River Words… Ocean Possibilities blog title. The rest, as they say, is history. At this time I would like to thank everyone who has read this far. Your attention and support are never taken for granted and are always appreciated. If you enjoy the content on this page please like, comment, share, and subscribe. Also, if you read Spanish, check out my Spanish blog Un Río de Palabras… Un Océano de Posibilidades. Have a wonderful day.
Regards,
Manuel A. Luna-Murray
A River to the Sea by Reigning Mercy
River Words… Ocean Possibilities 