The moon peeked out from behind a cloud, and began a game of cat and mouse with the dark bay below. It playfully cast bright beams over the black water, before scurring off in another direction, pouncing first on the blackness there, and then the blackness here. Laughing at the impossibility of lighting up the whole ocean, it threw itself into a whole-hearted attempt anyways.

The dark bay seemed to yawn in it's irritation. It cast short choppy waves against the moon's beams, trying to shrug off the light-hearted attempts of fun. It seemed to swallow the playful beams whole, sucking them into the deep darkness that goes down, down, down, to where the darkness swirls full of secrets and creates it's own counter world, juxtaposed to the light.

Water and Sky

The fog stretched over the water like a thick down blanket. Even at noon, the bay looked like it was barley waking up from a long slumber. The air was quiet, while gentle waves barely broke against the shore line. A lone seagull circled in vain; the sleepy water refusing to give up a noon-time snack. The sky stretched into gray, sleepy water and sleepy sky were for a moment one, impossible to tell where water ended and heaven began. They seemed to sigh a contented relief, for a moment resting from their constant tossing and thrashing, turning and rolling, one against the other. Like lovers sighing, they twisted into each others arms, the fog kissing the water, and the water embracing the sky; two lovers lost in each others embrace.

Lessons I'm learning: Joy

Joy is often confused by happiness. Maybe this is why people who live in happy circumstances rarely find true joy. Learning joy is finding that it has little to do with outward circumstances making us happy.

Unfortunately, the path that leads to this discovery is always mired in difficulty. It is fettered by despair's unyielding and persistent attempts to seize you in it's icy grasp. He must be constantly dodged, while he endlessly shouts that Circumstance has deemed you his.

But Joy waits, whispering the beauty that comes from continuing on. Joy burns from within, fueled by hope, undaunted when it is deferred, indifferent to the the lot Circumstance has cast your way.

To find Joy, you must dogde the evil giant Dispair. And once it is found, you will discover that Dispair is not diminished or less daunting; instead his grasp simply cannot hold you. For finding Joy is finding that it is a light that burns from within your soul; and its light is no match for Despair.