You're In Their World Now

While it may be true that I have a somewhat odd obsession and fascination with a species that many people in their right minds have developed an absolute fear for, I believe wholeheartedly that all people need to find in them a respect for sharks and their habitat. Not just because I want everyone to love the sharks and their grace in the way that I do, but because it is absolutely vital. It is vital for our future and for the future of our oceans to preserve these creatures and understand them better. In the same way, it is paramount to understand that when humans swim in the oceans they are simply guests in the sharks domain. Sharks get a bad name for a few cases of mistaken identity, and nothing makes me more aggravated then when they are coined as ruthless killers.

Sure, sharks kill about 5 people annually. But before you let that get to your head, lets take a look at things that are more likely to kill you than sharks.

1. Obesity: 30,000 people annually
2. Lightening: 10,000 people annually
3. Texting and driving: 6,000 people annually
4. Hippos: kill 2,900 people annually. Are you still afraid of sharks?
5. Volcanos: 845 people annually
6. Shopping on black friday: 550 people annually. And yet, you still go.
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The list goes on an on, and all of those numbers are exponentially greater than the mere 5 people that are in a tragic case of misunderstanding yearly with sharks. Your run-in chances with the apex-predator are so slim as it is, and yet, we as humans are making those chances even slimmer. If you think that is good news, then you have the wrong mindset altogether.

Our oceans are such an integral part of our existence, and deserve to be cared for and protected the same way we should protect the land that we live on as well. It is such a fragile and complex ecosystem that drives the existence of our world oceans, and sharks play a role that regular fish and creatures do not. Sharks are an apex predator at the peak of the marine food chain, and provide direct and indirect regulation of the ecosystem in a manor that is absolutely crucial for the sustainability and balance of such. The typical hunting tactics of different species of sharks relies on the predation of weaker or older prey, which then allows for the fittest and most capable species of fish and smaller prey to survive and reproduce. This cycle keeps the entire system healthy and in the best shape for survival and reproduction. Humans have seeped into the balance and have thrown it off, and will continue to throw it off, if nothing is done to change that. Humans have been systematically depleting the species through overfishing and destruction of habitat by pollution. This is not maintainable, as sharks rule and control the oceans in a way that is more vital than most of us can appreciate.

So, to conclude my rant about sharks, I leave you with a final thought: the ocean is their world. Your fears are relevant, and coming face to face with one of these predators is not a desirable encounter, but your respect for them is important. Their existence and future relies on your respect and motivation to preserve them, and that necessity needs to come from a place of compassion rather than fear.

Little Pieces of Heaven

With the blessing of opportunity to travel to some uniquely attributed and magnificent beaches, as well as a holy curiosity that constantly leads me through online and word-of-mouth inquiries, I've compiled some opinions and salty dreams about a few destinations. I hope to someday provide insight and tips about tackling a globally extensive list of beaches and their own personal traits and magic, but for now my list is reletevily small.

Magen's Bay, St. Thomas

I can do only say so much to describe it, and even that would most likely fall short of justice for the expansive paradice, but it is always worth a try. Magen's Bay is a relatively small pocket of land, with a shoreline about a mile long, tucked away in a Virgin Island hideout. It was coined "one of the worlds most beautiful beaches", and that is not without good reason. The beach itself is surrounded by 68 acres of pristine land consisting of an arboratum, campground, coconut groves, and tropial wetlands. For such a highly regaurded beach with soft white sand and striking turquoise waters, the shoreline is reletively quiet and the people are generally looking for relaxation rather than recreation. However, the snorkeling is divine and the beach offers paddle board and kyak rentals for more adventurous explorers. While on the particular day that I visited, the weathr was overcast with intermitent rains and storms. Despite the lack of favorable weather, clouds or rain or storms took nothing away from the prisine location. Even though we loved the seclusion, we didn't mind sharing (and dropping in on) a beautiful tropical wedding taking place next to us. If you are looking for an adventure, a breath of fresh air, and a dip in the warm waters of the Virgin Islands, I recommend a visit to Magen's Bay to see it for yourself.

St. Petersburg, Florida: Sunset Beach

 Some places have an affintity to keep a little piece of your heart when you leave, and that place is different for everyone respectivly. For some, they find a home in nature, people, sports, cities. A place that will forever hold my gaze is St. Petersburg, Flordia, and while I only merely stumbled upon it while traveling, I yearn to go back and feel it again. Sunset Beach, rummored to be a destination of inspiration for Jimmy Buffet's 'Margarittaville,' captivates with its bohemian ambaiance, beach lovers oasis, and go with the flow mentality. With constant live music, unique houses, tiki-huts, and famously radiant sunsets (I can surely attest to this), the entire scene is one of salty paradise and love. What I found most striking, and an attribute which set this beach apart from others, were the people. I came in knowing no one besides my mother/traveling campanion, and left feeling welcomed by locals who wanted to dance and surf and share their little bits of wisdom with me. The sunset at Sunset Beach is one of absolute power and grace, and brings a scattered population together in unison down to the waters to watch. It was in this moment that a passerbyer shared with me a statement which has become a reoccuring mantra in my life: "Clear skies are okay, but the clouds make for a beautiful sunset." I couln't see it then, but shortly I knew what he meant.

Like the Tides: Change is the Only Constant

I firmly believe that every experience you undergo in your life, weather good or bad, accumulates and compiles into the person you become, the truths you accept, the perfective you view life from, and the way in which you carry yourself. The bad days are lessons to teach you how to be better, do better, and cope with hardship, while also adding value to the blessing of good days and good experiences. If who you are is what you have learned, then I am who I am from the lessons time by the ocean has taught me.

"Move with the Currents and Change with the Tides"

If there is one standout, vital piece of truth that I have learned to accept from my observations of nature, it is the absolute impermanence of everything. I see it everyday, people fight to hold on to familiarity when that is simply not where the magic is. The idea that life is constantly changing and rolling at an inevitable rate is a tough one to comprehend, and I myself have struggled with this. As I see the waves and the way they never cease, I see that in my own life. As a new college student setting out on the first leg of adulthood and independence in a very new environment, I felt the sting of the familiarity of my hometown and my high school days as I looked out into the unknown. It was a hard goodbye, leaving all Ive ever known for a place that I felt like i'd never know.

Despite this bitter departure, I turned to my inner place of refuge and drew a connection between my ever-changing life and the manic tossing and turning of the waves. While some days the waves are rough and angry, and other days calm and glassy, they have one thing in common: the waves never stop. And the most relaxing part of that truth is that no one has ever expected them to. So why do we expect to hold on to moments and feelings forever? The most beautiful contradiction is in the fact that the only constant in the ocean is the absolute impermanence.

Once one gets fully acquainted with the idea that the only constant is change, then life flows in a sequence that is now understandable as inevitable and intricately designed for the greater good. Despite the rough and the harsh days, the winds continue to blow and the tides continue to flow to smoother conditions, and that fact alone puts life in a manageable perspective of beautifully strung moments connected by inevitability. Like the tides, we move and we learn and change. This alone is the beauty of the inevitability and the promise of change as a constant.

"We can't change the moon but we can live in harmony with its tides, and we can make some ripples of our own" Germaine Greer

Where I Begin: A Sandy Soul

The great debate about human develoment lies in the pressing question: nature or nuture? In a compilation of my thoughts and a thoughtful examination of my how I grew and evolved to be who I am today, I'd have to say that it is nurture that brought me to my nature. It is my parents who put me in a position to find that my surroundings are truly what made me who I am, and without that catalyst, I recognize that I would be very different. I do not exactly know how common it is to be as obessed with the water and the beach as I am, but I also do not know how common it is to be swaddled on a beach under an umbrella 2 weeks after being born. I have been engulfed in the sounds of the waves and the wild sent of salty air before I even could comprehend my surroundings. My love for the water and the beach in all its entirety stemmed from the simple fact that it is all I knew. And to be fair, it's all I wanted to know. My mom, who has a tendency to video tape everything, makes it possible to giggle at an unsteady toddler making a break for the shoreline only to turn around and run just as it touches her toes.

My love for the water and reverence for the sea was playful and lighthearted when I was young, and is now more mature yet more wild as I am older and able to anaylze my roots and where my passions  come from. Time spent on the beach and in the ocean has given me my most cherished and fortified relationships, esspesially with my older brother who has the same passion as me. While we do not seem to agree on much else, our differences melt away as we spend a morning surfing together or an evening watching the sunset. I am eternally grateful for all that I have been able to take away from days spent sandy and sunburt, and I am blessed to continue loving and living with the lessons I have learned. My aspirations for this blog truley lie in sharing my own passion for the water, but also making it a relatable lifestyle bog to depict things such as beachy recipes and workouts, universal lessons I've learned, the absolute vitalness of sharks and their amazing dominance over their habitat, influential surfers, "Chasing Mavericks", beautiful beaches, and other glimpes into the world of a girl born with a sandy soul. I hope to be relatable to those who also may share a love for the ocean, but also relatable to anyone with a passion that they feel has molded them into their genuine self.