Last night I was FaceTiming an old friend and we got to reminiscing on a girls trip we took the summer we graduated high school. We had forgotten all about it! I remembered she had taken a Polaroid of me and to this day I still have it hanging in my room so I showed it to her and it unlocked so much more of the trip for us! It was so beautiful! We had driven up to Laguna for the first time, I’ve been to so many beaches but I had never been there before and I don’t think I’ve been back there since honestly. The closest I’ve been to there again was Newport. Anyways, we remembered that at one point we had gotten stuck in a riptide and were literally swimming for our lives. I was able to get myself out first and was just outside of it coaching her on what to do to get out too, but both of us were scared and exhausted. To make matters worse no one knew what was going on we were just suffering all on our own. If that ain’t some real shit tho then I don’t know what is. It didn’t help that we were joking around too at the same time. Anyways! I remember that I wasn’t scared when I was caught in the tide myself because I just somehow knew what to do and knew I would be fine. Swimming instinct maybe? I’ve been swimming since I was 2 years old. No. THAT wasn’t the part that scared the living shit out of me. My fear didn’t set in until I realized my best friend was NOT in pace with me. She was still stuck. My mind went blank for a second and I felt a sense of calm wash over me. I told myself I would be of no help to my drowning friend if I let myself panic and give way to the fear of her drowning or being dragged out further. Instead I calmed myself and that’s when the flow of information came flooding in and all of a sudden I knew exactly what to do for her. I looked it all up afterwards when we were at home and everything that came to my mind in that moment was 100% accurate and exactly what we were supposed to do. So that was cool. Intuition? Instinct? Spirit guides? Maybe all 3. I don’t know. What I do know is that I still have one of my very best friends in this world because of my actions and that’s something I had forgotten about until now. I just now remembered the utter relief I felt when her hand reached mine and I was able to pull her to safety with me. She immediately wanted to go to shore but I knew if we did that she would’ve been traumatized by the ocean forever. So instead I told her we should rest first and catch our breath. We both relaxed again and felt how gentle and peaceful the ocean was once more. The water was warm and such a beautiful blue color. We talked it over while we waded there together and eventually got super tired and returned to shore where our other friend was resting on the sand and then we recounted everything to her too… what a memory! What a trip! Yesterday she said “thanks for not letting me drown.” We laughed about it but now that I look back on everything and feel those emotions again I say this: I would never let someone I love drown metaphorically, spiritually, emotionally, or physically! Not when I can do something about it. I’ve always got you.
