Suffering, much like happiness, comes in small and large waves. It finds us on the shores of life and engulfs us until it feels as if there is nothing else in the world for us to feel or see. Then, before we even realise it, it will recede back to where it came from and leave us wondering whether it ever truly did exist. Those who have learned life will continue to walk on the shore, enduring the waves until they finally begin to enjoy it. Those who are still learning will struggle and fall with the hope that they too will love the sea just as the others do.
Life, like the sea, is not the same everyday, and it is especially not the same for every single person. It is easy to allow the virtue of perseverance to account for those individuals who have succeeded in the art of experiencing waves without allowing the water to drown them. However, even determination and perseverance cannot withstand every single wave.
The world has embraced a strange custom of placing emotions into categories and hierarchies. There are some forms of grief that are more acceptable to feel, while other forms must be felt quietly in solace. There are some joys that can be celebrated with smiles and laughter. Then, there are others that must be enclosed within the walls of our hearts. There are some people who must not feel sadness in a certain way, or laugh at a certain volume, or become angry in a specific manner. While the waves grow higher and stronger, our world, using these rules, builds a wall behind us so that we can do nothing but sink into those waves which meet us from the front. We are perpetually trapped in this manner. It is no wonder that not every one of us survives.
Recently, I discovered that in some parts of the world, the sea exhibits a strangely beautiful phenomenon. Under the right conditions and at the right time, one may witness the waves glowing in a bluish-green colour. The phenomenon occurs because of the presence of a type of plankton which has bioluminescent properties. Whenever movement such as our touch disturbs the water, the area glows brightly. This occurrence is so beautiful that it constantly attracts tourists to the places where it occurs.
Perhaps the waves we experience during the course of our lives can be painful and suffocating. We may occasionally find ourselves pinned between cruel waves and cold walls. We must learn, however, that the waves are as temporary as they are inevitable. They are meant to be felt. Just like real waves in the sea, waves of suffering can glow like blue starlight. Instead of drowning us, they can change under our fingertips into something bright and beautiful.
As for the walls built by human beings, they will eventually crumble and fall apart under the persistent strength of the waves. As we grow up, we will gradually learn to live and feel not as the world expects us to, but as we are meant to.
