A Question of Meaning

So why? What’s the purpose of going out into the water over and over again? Why I do do this? It’s crazy, you know. Crazy. 

I’ve come to the conclusion after paddling for over ten years that the water is the wilderness. It’s wild. There’s no taming it. It may behave yourself for a while. It may greet you with open arms, welcoming you into its realm. But one day the water will lash out. The water will show you that you’re not in a swimming pool. You are in a realm where many strange things can happen, and they sometimes do.

But I think that’s why I like to get out onto the water in a fragile craft. Sometimes the water will throw crazy winds, currents, or even a storm at me. My job is to take everything thrown at me and survive.

That’s the fun. Taking what what the wilderness throws at you. Seeing how your skill measures up to mother nature. (And no, I don’t go out when things are really bad. That’s for crazy people.) That’s also why I always play things safe. I always wear a PFD, sometimes inflatable sometimes traditional. I never leave the shore without a leash around my ankle.

When you’ve been pummeled by the water enough times, gotten into trouble, and emerged the other end bruised but educated. That may seem brutal, but surviving those events are also what gives you experience. The water isn’t just a place for recreation — it’s a place where things happen. When you experience the water in its moods, then a deeper understanding. And that experience, that relationship, is what gives meaning. The meaning is to be someone who knows the water and can experience it at a different level than most people. That’s powerful.

And that’s why I paddle.