Mag Learns Life

Indiana, like much of the Mid West, is landlocked. I knew this would be different than what I’m used to but I never expected it feel so soulless. Even when you overlook the lack of water, there isn’t much else to look at. So, when I walk on the streets of Lafayette, I feel robotic. Even the concrete jungle doesn’t exist here. What they call a “city” is adjacent to a strip mall where I’m from in New York. Driving by miles of sparsely tree lined fields, it offends me when people called it a forest. The worst part is that my greatest place of peace doesn’t exist here. When I first mentioned my memories of the beach to people, I felt excited to convey the feeling of being by the water. They don’t know what that is though. You can try to explain a feeling, but unless someone feels it too, they’ll never get it. People here don’t understand the way the water makes you feel. Or how the touch of the sand connects you to the Earth. Being here erases my being, like the cities erase the land. It’s like the Red Hot Chili Peppers say- they really don’t form in the Wet Sand. I can sculpt the memories of my life into the sand. Most of them exist in relation to my beaches. Much of who I am feels intertwined with the ocean. What I can build in the wet sand, can’t survive in the empty fields. But the amazing thing about the ocean is that it stays connected to you, no matter where you are in the world. Sometimes when I walk outside and the sun hits my face I can imagine I’m walking along the shore. Sometimes when the water runs over me in the shower and I can imagine ducking under a wave. The world reminds us just how connected everything in nature is. My ocean also touches the shores of others, just like how my sun and moon will rise for others too. Even if they can’t understand it, sharing my beaches is how I The memories of my happiness are within me forever. Everything I built in that sand still stands tall today. I don’t have to wait to dip my toes in the water just to recall its presence. But one day I will return to her. And all of my days will blend into one lasting moment of peace.