BEFORE THE OCEAN GETS IN

 

                       A boat doesn't sink because it is surrounded by water. It sinks because of the water that gets inside. The more water gets in, the deeper it settles into the sea, until the weight finally pulls it under. It made me pause for a while. Because our emotions work the exact same way.

                    Our lives are like that ocean, and we are constantly piling up feelings inside ourselves sadness, stress, anger, love, betrayal, separation, failure, anxiety, and every unspoken truth in between. Some emotions are light and temporary, floating through us like mist. But others are dense and heavy, unsaid words, replayed arguments, lingering guilt, quiet fears, expectations we never asked for, and old heartbreaks we never truly processed. Left unchecked, they become heavy enough to drown us in the deep.

                    At the very beginning, we don't notice the weight building up. It piles up day by day, one emotion after another, until we break down. Driven by our natural human tendencies, we just keep moving. We work, we smile, we talk, and we keep living. We tell ourselves we're handling it. We pretend we belong to the surface, even when something inside us is slowly sinking. But heavy emotions don't stay light. When left unaddressed, they settle, condense, and multiply in weight. Eventually, all those small, suppressed feelings turn into a massive, crushing force. And just like a boat taking on more water from within, we too begin to sink under everything we refuse to feel and let go of.

"Silence builds a heavier wall

With every word we let delay,

And inch by inch, the distances grow

Until we’ve walked too far away.

My heart drowns in an ocean deep

Of endless why and endless how,

Holding back the simple truth

That could have saved the peace right now.

Sometimes it’s better just to speak,

To give the heavy thoughts a name,

Before the quiet fills the room

And nothing ever feels the same."

                    When the water rises, it's easy to think the solution is to become completely numb, to empty ourselves entirely, block everything out, and feel nothing.

                    But the goal isn't to become hollow or cold. To turn into stone is not survival. It is simply another way to drown.

                    The goal is to understand that our emotions are meant to be felt, acknowledged, processed, and released, not carried as permanent cargo for the rest of our lives.

                    We were never taught how to swim through what we feel, so when the storm comes, we end up drowning in our own waters. We don't have to stay under. Sometimes, letting go isn't about losing a piece of yourself. It's simply about releasing the heavy emotions that were never meant to stay inside you forever, so you can finally catch your breath, rise back to the surface, and learn to float again.

Raman