Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Two by Sea

There's something about the sea that makes you feel more alive, more yourself. Friends have commented that they always feel beautiful in the ocean, and I think it's true - people do seem more beautiful in or near the ocean - or maybe it's just more of their essential self shines through.
By sea we feel exhilarated, exultant and twice as alive. 
I've always been fascinated by the sea - and how it seems to bring the mystical, the mythical, the 'other' so much closer. By the sea I can believe in so many things. At university one of the subjects I studied was 'Underworld and Afterlife in Mythology' (yes, I loved my undergrad!) and my favourite essay to research was about the sea as symbol of the underworld/afterlife, looking at stories such as the Odyssey, the Illiad, and Irish wonder voyages such as Brans. 
Nearly all of the novels I've written (almost all) contain a cross-world theme - wherein people from this world enter a new fantastical world - a la C.S Lewis's Narnia series - many using the sea or shore as portal. The only non-fantasy book I've ever written was a coming-of-age book about a teenager who took a gap year in a shack by the sea. (Talk about wishful thinking!) The sea more than adequately took the place of the other-world fantastical.  
Missing the sea now, I've been going through photos again of our last trip down at Easter - smiling as I see my own little one's joy in the water. 











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