A Study of the Sea, Mark Spriggs

Continuing this weeks series of short stories this is an inspirational piece from a talented writer and actor called Mark.

A Study of the Sea

Mark Spriggs

A few years ago I spent several months living and working on the Greek island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese. During my time on the island the ocean became a great friend. Sometimes in the morning I walked down to the harbour where the fishermen were folding their nets having already completed a day’s work. The smell of fresh fish lingered in the cool, morning air and small boats bobbed around in the safety of their refuge. I sat and gazed through the harbour entrance and stared at the seemingly unending blanket of blue that stretched before me. I would watch the larger ships slide along the horizon and ponder the journeys they had undertaken or were about to begin. They brought inspiration to me; reminded me of the challenge of journeying, the risk-filled life, the importance of adventure.

In the evening I often stood on the western beach at the tip of the island and continued my study of the sea. I was always amazed at the number of people who came to the shore, to watch the sun go down. Some stood in pairs, their hands clasped together, young lovers perhaps; but many stood alone, like me, solitary figures who stood, or sat, on the white sand and watched as the glowing sun melted into the sea and the day morphed slowly into night.

Coming from the land-locked Midlands it was something of a novelty to make such regular acquaintance with the sea. The mood changes of my new friend didn’t go unnoticed either; sometimes gentle and serene, the sunlight or moonshine dancing on its silvery surface; at other times angry and ferocious, vast waves buffeting the defenceless shore. This awesome power was a reminder to me of my own fragility in the face of nature unleashed. And yet the vulnerability felt healthy. A change from the all too commonplace desire to be sheltered at all times. Enshrined in my home. Shielded in my car. How easy to be bubble-wrapped in a thousand mindless pursuits which threaten to numb me to any sense of a voice wanting to speak through the noise, right into the chaos, and across the sometimes harsh reality of daily life.

Standing at the point where the land meets the sea is a humbling experience. A place of contrasts. Of ends and beginnings. A time to reflect. A time to be still.

Back home in the middle of England and the sea seems far away. The busyness of life in our Western society further dulls the experience, and time taken to be still and reflect can be hard to find.

Someone once said that the problem with the rat race is that even if you win it, you are still a rat.