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I wonder if anyone has ever dared to tell the ocean it's too big.
That it takes up too much space on the map; that its waves are too loud,
too wild, too persistent.

That it should calm down, shrink itself.

Learn to
stay within the lines drawn by logical hands and tidy minds.

I wonder if
anyone has ever stood on a cliff above the roaring blue sea and shouted,
“Could you just not be so much?”
It would be futile, because the ocean doesn't answer. It just keeps moving;
vast, unapologetic and sometimes overwhelming, kissing the shore with
salt and secrets, swallowing the sand in its tides. It doesn’t shrink to fit a
postcard. It doesn’t hush itself so fragile hearts can sleep. It doesn’t care if
someone’s shoes get wet because they stepped too close and didn’t
understand what they were standing next to.
And yet, here we are: asked every day to be smaller, quieter, softer. To
make our griefs neater, our joys quieter, our rage more reasonable. We are
told to wear our emotions like perfume - just a hint, just enough to be
interesting, but never too much. Never too much.
But you, my love...
you were not born to be 'just enough'. You were not put here to smooth
out the edges of someone else’s comfort by shrinking and silencing yourself.

Just like the ocean, your depth is not a flaw; it is a force. So when
life feels like the waves - vast, unapologetic and overwhelming - allow
yourself to feel it.
You don't have to apologise for your tears, my love.
The ocean doesn't bow to those that stand at its edge and complain about
its depth.

Becky Hemsley