Dear Birch--When you sink through the sea.

Dear Birch,

It's a funny thing about swimming. I stand here and watch the river flow out to the sea and think about the depths there. I think about the treasures buried in the deep, and the ships drifting on the surface. Humans drift along the tops of the water and never see below. If they were still, they would see so much.


I often speak to the fish and the otters and they bring me stories of the depths. They say that in the depths there is a treasure. It is something that cannot be sought and fought for, but must be reached through stillness. A human on the surface cannot see it.

I see him now. He struggles against the tides and fights for his life, but he doesn't know his life is below. If he were to be still he would sink down and see it. He would drift through the waters, currents flowing past him as he fell to the floor. The dolphins and sharks swimming around him as he fell, circling this man as he came to know the treasure.

The light shines up through the depths. Strange creatures of the deep surround him. That one has too many eyes. That one appears to have three pairs of wings. And that one is on a throne.

The light radiates out, rays shooting through the darkness. There, along the volcanic ridge of the ocean floor, the treasure awaits.

He falls through kilometers of water, liters and liters filling in the space above him.

And now he has a choice. He can remain still and sink into the presence of this treasure, or he could fight against the currents. He could swim back to the surface and breathe again, or he could give his life to something greater.

Thoughts and sayings enter his mind. His heart and head battle there in the depths as he tries to decide. Is this better? Is it a lie? Could anything be so wonderful? Is everything too good to be true?

The thoughts swirl around him and he begins to panic. The fears of his mind animate his limbs and the floundering sends him back toward the surface. Now that he has begun, there is little hope of his return. He has seen the treasure there on the ocean floor, and now he will have to force himself to be still. Every instinct within him urges him to swim to the surface, but a silent voice in his heart tells him to be still. Be still and sink into the depths.

But then again, maybe he will never be able to kill himself. Maybe he was made to swim, and maybe the beauty of the depths is that the one sitting there on the throne left it. He stood up and swam through the waters as he saw the human retreating. He caught the man before he reached the surface and brought him below. The man clung to the treasure as they sank to the bottom, there to drink the life giving water flowing from the hydrothermal vents.

As to your question about the humans, there is little we can actually do for them. Often they don't need songs or wisdom, they only need you to stand there and let them fall at your feet. Do not turn them away when they are worn down by their fears. Maybe the king of the sea will come to them, and he will heal them at your roots.

Love Always,
Fir