that deafening silence

there is something so profound about the quiet. in those moments where you pause and realize that all the background noise has faded and you are alone with your thoughts, your feelings, and all the things you have been running from. silence can be deafening. it can be refreshing. it can be scary. however, almost always it is necessary. times of reflection are integral to understanding who you are and who you are being shaped into. as cliche as it may be, often those times come for me when I am surrounded by people but just struck by how small I am. today, while floating in the ocean and bobbing around hoping not to get eaten by a shark, I was struck by one of those moments of deafening silence. pushing my hands through the water and feeling the power of the current and the subdued strength of waves that had not yet crashed I couldn't help but feel so insignificant. moments where I fully understand how little control I have over my life. there is a possibility I could get swept out to sea by a strong current or eaten by a shark (not trying to scare you mom), but that doesn't make me want to swim for shore. it just makes me realize that life isn't all plans and dreams and thoughts. most of the time it's moments. moments where you just have to pause and look around at the beauty of life and understand that you may be a small and insignificant part of it all, but you are a part. one of my favorite things to do is be immersed in the ocean. to feel it's supremacy all around me and surrender to it. surrender to God's power. God's plan. and silence is so often what forces me to do that. silence in its many forms. silence comes and my thoughts run, but learning that I need those times to learn about myself and learn who I am and all that is bigger and stronger than me.

in other news, today I dropped my bra in a port a potty when changing to go out to dinner.

some moments are meant for reflection and others are meant to just crack up at yourself and how hilariously awkward your life can be.

here's a pic of me making friends with a cool lighthouse.

so today I revealed a little bit of my soul (and my body), thank you for reading,

haley grace