Most things seem to arrive in waves. Good things and bad things, motions and emotions, living things and inanimate objects, challenges and opportunities.

The line between surfing a wave and being crushed by it is a thin one. Some might be able to enjoy the bigger waves, being skilled and familiar with the nature of the beast. Others are crushed by smaller ones, and some might even drown in a tranquil sea.

Some waves seem to be frozen in time, moving so slowly that it’s hard to believe they move at all. Others move with infinite swiftness, arriving at the same time all at once - from the viewpoint of the wave, at least.

Waves are powerful beyond comprehension. They bring down bridges and skyscrapers, make people fall in love, start revolutions and let you read this sentence, no matter the medium.

The study of waves is important to virtually every branch of science and engineering. Indeed, waves are also important to everyday life. Sound waves allow us to hear, and electromagnetic waves allow us to see.

D. S. Drumheller

We follow and race
In shifting chase,
Over the boundless ocean-space!
Who hath beheld when the race begun?
Who shall behold it run?

Bayard Taylor, The Waves.

The last few weeks were a surreal experience. While visiting an ocean of beautiful places, I tried my best to stay upright on a wave of challenges and opportunities. My surfing was far from a masterful dance, but at least my bones weren’t crushed on the reef.

What to do after all this paddling? They say that there is calm before the storm, but there is also calm after. I intend to use this calm to rest. Rest and recover, sleep and dream. Lie at the ocean and look at the waves.

Sleepe after toyle, port after stormie seas,
Ease after warre, death after life, does greatly please.

Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

Translations

• German translation by Der Geier

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