La Barrita, Guerrero //
The fact that I sleep through the night and don’t have any nightmares comes as a surprise. When I get out of bed, my back is sore, and my spine feels misaligned. I can only assume that it’s a result of the physicality exerted in the ocean yesterday.
While Mark is drinking his morning coffee and enjoying the comfort of a hammock in our private palapa, he tells me he just downloaded a book titled “Dr. Rip’s Essential Beach Book.” I imagine we’ll both be consuming that one in short order.
Every year that we come to Mexico, we learn a little bit more about the ocean. Having spent the majority of our lives far from the sea, coexisting alongside the ocean these last few years is all new to us. We’re mesmerized by its beauty and also aware that it’s the ultimate force of nature. Our lack of understanding of the ocean’s rhythms and dangers is constantly evoking questions and leaving us wildly curious to know more.
When we started spending more time near and in the ocean, I watched a video about rip currents. I had no idea what a rip current was; I only knew it as a buzzword associated with threats posed by the sea. From that video, I learned that a rip current is a section of strong outgoing current that can be created under various conditions. From my amateur understanding, I made the false and ignorant assumption that a rip current would be identifiable. I think they might be to the trained eye, but not for us. It took being pulled into its grip and then confirming our suspicion with internet research to conclude that what happened yesterday was due to the force of a rip current.
I know now that over 100 people die every year in the US alone from rip currents. And that only a small fraction of the population even knows what a rip current is, let alone how to survive one. I’m fascinated by the fact that we fear the dangers we know, but often what is to be feared most are the dangers we don’t even know exist. This fact feels so evident while traveling around Mexico. The media portrays the cartel as being the preeminent danger throughout the country, and yet, in the last week, the danger was an engine fire that tried to destroy Adam & Heather’s lives and the ocean that tried to end ours. Danger takes countless shapes and exists everywhere. How we perceive it, interact with it, and learn from it largely shapes our overall perspective on this wild ride we call life.
I prioritize working out and meditating today. One of my initial thoughts following yesterday’s events was that both mental and physical strength have far-reaching, and potentially life-saving, benefits. At sunset, we go for a walk along the beach and study the waves. Visual clues point to the rip, but they’re so subtle that I still struggle to understand what I’m seeing. And so, just like learning a new language, we take this experience and turn it into one of hundreds of building blocks that will slowly but certainly build a foundation of new knowledge.
Whether an experience be good or bad, we’re always learning. And with each lesson, our perspective on life widens and evolves. I think that’s one of the core reasons why we love to travel.
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Beautiful pictures and location. Yes, dangers come in many different forms. Most are visible, many are not. As we age they change, as well. Life lessons we learn along the way. It’s how we adjust to them and learn for them that makes a difference as to who we are. Sounds like you mentally adjusted rather quickly to your very close call. Another earlier life lesson taught you to keep your cool and not panic. You have learned and continue to learn from past life experiences. That’s a great thing.
Love you both.
Thank you Jamie. I couldn’t agree more with everything you said.
Yesterday when reading about your encounter with a rip, I was impressed that you DIDN’T PANIC. That is very simply the thing that drowns people… panic. Can you stay afloat, tread water, swim… when you are in placid lake water? Ocean waves… or river rapids… any fast moving water is only water. Instead of trying to escape it, just go with it… let it take you and stay afloat… it is the exertion of trying to swim against fast moving water that quickly exhausts people and kills them. You are absolutely right… every person who swims on a beach or river needs to understand the basics of fast water and how to escape it. It’s devastatingly sad that so many people drown.
You are spot on Bill. I wish this was more common knowledge.
Great post! At 65 I question things a lot more than I used to in terms of my physical safety. Now I’m realizing the same thing for my emotional and mental safety. I’m glad you both are safe and wiser for the ocean experience. I don’t believe in being fearful as it’s extremely limiting. Yet caution is a natural state. And used with the proper applied knowledge, like with the ocean, it can be a helpful and wise reason to forgo an activity or situation until it’s reasonable to proceed. As always, safe travels to you all.
I 100% agree that fear is extremely limiting. We’re always trying to walk the line between facing our fears but also being wise.