Being engulfed

The encounter with the ocean brings about a silencing. A moment of stopping. You realize that you are surrounded by it and the vastness of the surrounding. It’s too loud.

1. First, one could describe it as sublime, in the classical sense (i.e. you feel very small.)
2. Secondly, is the power it has to lift you when you swim. It’s buoyancy.
There is an ecstasy of the thing that can engulf you + charm you + suddenly you become conscious of your own vulnerability.

I remember loving the feeling of touching the sea or having it around me. Back then, I was not afraid of it. But then again, my parents only took me when it was docile + warm. That was the Belgian sea, of course. It was the only sea I saw for a really long time. I had to turn 20 before seeing another sea. (This is without counting Lake Como, in Italy.)