Photo credit: Robin Malmanger

By Dave Markwell

I recently did a guided meditation titled, “Ocean breathing”. It was lovely. As my breath rose and sank as adrift in a warm sea, I settled into a nice place that felt like home. I like it when this happens. It doesn’t always.

Perhaps this theme was more personal than some others. I love water. I’ve always loved water. I’ve spent countless hours swimming or floating or gently rocking in a boat or on a board atop both cold and warm waters. My best moments have happened with water as a backdrop.

I recall the sweet dreams of my early days laying on a big inner-tube with a swim mask and snorkel looking for fish, for hours, as my back got extremely sunburned. My grandma would make tea and soak our t-shirts and then put them in the freezer to cool down. My cousins and I would wear our cold tea-shirts playing cards with our sunburns and life was good.

I’ve fished in lakes and rivers and waterskied and wake-boarded and sat drinking beer with close friends and music in the heat of summers and youth sitting on different boats. I’ve held the warm hand of a great love laying on my back on a paddleboard as the peaceful rhythm of waves played as a love song. In a different lifetime, I rose from the depths to a night sky off the coast of Honduras while scuba-diving and tipped my head back to skull my way back to our craft as the warm Caribbean sea reminded me of a vast world full of wonderful things. I’ve seen sunsets and sunrises reflecting off of different waters and felt alive each time. Water is magic.

As I sit looking over my town, I see water and boats in a marina. I can feel the soft tug of their shifting weight as the tide pulls their lines tight. I see the cold water and can deeply imagine the rising and sinking lullaby of its waves. As a breath, the sea rises and falls and gives life and reminds us of big things. Love and hope and faith and peace live in our waters. These are nice things to feel and believe in. And, we live in a fine place to feel them.

Dave Markwell is a life-long Des Moines liver and lover. Former owner of Waterland CrossFit and the Waterland Arcade, Dave is now using his unique story-telling voice to help small businesses tell a better story, and his love for people to help folks live bigger and better lives.

For more info. check out his website: wordsbydave.net.

He can be contacted at: [email protected].

 

Scott Schaefer

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...