Mine is somewhere beyond the harbor.
Humpback Whale off the Coast of Catalina Island
Everyone has a place where the noise seems to disappear.
A place where the constant lists, responsibilities, schedules, and everything waiting for your attention suddenly become a little less important.
For me, that place is on the water.
There is something about leaving the harbor that changes me almost immediately. We slowly make our way past the docks and boats, through the breakwater, and toward open water.
And then we clear the harbor.
The throttle goes down.
The boat rises, the wind hits my face, the coastline begins falling away behind us, and almost instantly I can feel myself letting go.
For a little while, there is nowhere else I need to be.
Nothing else I need to be doing.
I am just there.
The Moment Everything Changes
I love the anticipation of heading offshore because you never really know what the day is going to give you.
Some days you can travel for miles searching an enormous ocean and barely see anything.
Other days, magic happens almost immediately.
We can be only minutes outside the harbor when someone spots movement ahead.
A few dorsal fins.
Then a few more.
And suddenly the water around us is alive with dolphins.
Pod of Common Dolphins in Glassy Conditions
No matter how many times I experience it, that moment never gets old.
They begin racing toward the boat as if they have been waiting for us.
Within seconds they are riding the bow, effortlessly matching our speed. Some leap completely out of the water beside us while others cross back and forth beneath the boat.
Sometimes one launches itself beside you and sends a wall of water flying over the side.
You get soaked.
You laugh.
And then, almost unbelievably, that same dolphin will circle back.
It comes alongside the boat again, turns slightly, and looks directly at you.
There are moments when it truly feels like they are checking to see if you noticed.
Of course I noticed.
How could I not?
Common Dolphin Bow Riding in Extremely Glassy Conditions
Completely in the Moment
Those are the moments when everything else disappears.
I am not thinking about what happened yesterday.
I am not thinking about what I need to do tomorrow.
I am not checking the time.
I am not wondering what I am missing somewhere else.
I am standing on a moving boat in the middle of the ocean with dolphins racing beneath me, saltwater on my face, and probably a camera in my hands.
And I am completely there.
Pacific White-sided Dolphin Riding in the Wake
That kind of presence can be surprisingly difficult to find in everyday life.
We spend so much time thinking ahead or looking backward that sometimes we forget how incredible it feels simply to experience what is happening right now.
The ocean has a way of reminding me.
What the Dolphins Seem to Know
I sometimes wonder what we could learn from animals that live without so many of the things that consume us.
A dolphin does not care what day of the week it is.
It is not thinking about an overflowing inbox.
It is not worried about whether it should have done something differently yesterday.
It is moving through the ocean.
Swimming.
Playing.
Hunting.
Resting.
Living.
And when they choose to interact with us, there is something incredibly joyful about it.
They do not have to ride the bow.
They do not have to race alongside the boat.
They certainly do not have to launch themselves into the air next to us, splash everyone aboard, and then come back around for another look.
But they do.
Maybe I am assigning a little too much human emotion to it, but sometimes it certainly feels like pure joy.
Freedom without hesitation.
Curiosity without fear.
Bottlenose Dolphin Launching Out of the Water
Living completely inside the moment they have been given.
There is something worth remembering in that.
Freedom Looks Different Out There
When I am offshore, freedom looks like an endless horizon.
It sounds like water hitting the hull.
It feels like wind against my face as the boat runs toward whatever might be waiting ahead.
And sometimes it looks like a dolphin suspended in the air for one perfect second before disappearing beneath the surface again.
The ocean doesn't ask anything from me.
It simply gives me room.
Room to breathe.
Room to wonder.
Room to remember how small we are in this enormous world and, strangely enough, how comforting that can be.
Maybe peace is not always about finding silence.
Sometimes peace is loud.
Sometimes it is the roar of an engine leaving the harbor.
Sometimes it is waves hitting the boat.
Sometimes it is everyone laughing because a dolphin just soaked half the people onboard.
Peace can simply be the feeling of knowing that, for this exact moment, you are exactly where you want to be.
Humpback Whale at Sunset off the Coast of Newport Beach
Find Yours
I think everyone needs a place like that.
It does not have to be the ocean.
Maybe yours is deep in the mountains.
Maybe it is walking through a forest early in the morning.
Maybe it is standing beside a quiet lake, driving a deserted road, watching the sun disappear beyond the horizon, or sitting somewhere completely still with nothing but the sound of the wind.
The place itself almost doesn't matter.
What matters is finding somewhere that brings you back to yourself.
Somewhere that makes everything else become quiet for a little while.
Somewhere you stop thinking about what comes next and simply experience what is happening now.
For me, it happens the minute the harbor disappears behind us.
The throttle goes down.
The horizon opens up.
And somewhere out there, you never really know what might be waiting. A pod of dolphins racing toward the bow. A whale surfacing in the distance. A sea turtle drifting beneath a patch of kelp. Maybe even the unmistakable dorsal fin of an orca cutting through the water.
That is part of what keeps drawing me back.
Every trip is different. Every encounter is unexpected. And every time I leave the harbor, there is that same feeling that something incredible might be just beyond the horizon.
That is where I find my peace.
Bring the Ocean Home.
Explore my Ocean Wildlife Wall Art Collection.
Life’s an Adventure!