I read something today on a neurodivergent blog I follow/write for. It said that people with autism, particularly women, have spiritual experiences and intuitive abilities. I’ve always sort of felt this way, though I’m not sure if the autism label fits for me. I don’t feel like labels matter… but experiences do.
If you’ve been following this blog for a bit, you know that I have an intense connection with the ocean/sea… and that being there can be a spiritual/connecting/grounding experience for me. It’s difficult to explain. Sometimes I can almost hear music. Most of the time I just feel more present than I usually do in “regular” life. Sometimes I get moments of this while swimming laps or swimming in lakes… but there’s something about the sensory experience of being in a huge body of water that’s moving… with you in it. You can’t control how the waves are moving. You can use your energy to swim with it or against it, and sometimes you can’t do anything about where you’re headed… I’ve had a few of those experiences too. There are so so many parallels between the sea’s moods/cycles and life. And it feels more real to me than most of the things I experience with people and on land. Maybe that’s the best way to describe it.
I was trying to explain why I like the sea so much instead of hiking, for example. Don’t get me wrong, I love hiking too, but it’s not so much an all encompassing sensory experience for me. I’m not literally held by a different form of matter and swayed around. Plus, I compared it to reading a Harry Potter book. Go with me for a minute, when I read Harry Potter books, everything is so exciting (especially in the first one). There are so many new things, moving things, exciting actions, interesting characters, and different ways to move and interact with the world. The sea is like that, and IT’S ACTUALLY REAL. You can see so many different types of beings going about their business and just living life. You can see different formations underwater. It’s always different. It’s always new. It’s always something interesting to look at– all the while being enveloped in it and part of it yourself! I don’t know why I don’t typically get that same sensation in air… lol… admittedly, I have. On very rare instances in summer, outside, in nature.
And there you have it. If you’ve ever had one of these intense connections in life, I’d love to hear about it.
Be well
~*~ Natalie ~*~
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Eternal Ocean of Words 
Ahhh, this is so interesting! You almost hear music? The way that you describe this connection really does sound spiritual and poetic! You’ve got a unique gift here, thank you for sharing the experience as best you can! I know that you can’t get it across in just words :D.
It was funny you mentioned hiking, because I was just thinking that I’ve had experiences like you describe, whilst hiking, and perhaps even more accurately when I did parachuting. I did a static-line solo jump once, after a day’s training, and basically it ended in me suspended several thousand feet up in the air, at the mercy of nature and the parachute!
Climbing Half Dome in Yosemite Park was like this the whole way up and down. Maybe even my entire 3 days in the park!
Actually, the closest to what you describe has come whilst skiing or go-kartingโ definitely, yes. Only moving in nature makes me feel truly alive and ‘real’, and ‘me’, whilst also becoming a part of nature. Go-karting kind of takes that feeling further, and adds exhilaration. Both skiing and go-karting were things I became completely at one with, they were completely intuitive, with no thinking involved. Skiing has that element of being at the mercy of natureโ especially when high up on a mountain, in a snow cloud, on your own! As I experienced a few timesโ they were spiritual experiences. And standing on the top of Half Dome at sunset was 100% spiritual :D. (Just me and my friend on the top).
I’ve also had this feeling whilst playing guitar, when I was good at singingโ the harmony of combining those two things, the movement and total expression of your inner soulโ powerful and intoxicating. I am starting to get that with playing piano now :).
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Yes, itโs being in/near water has always been some type of moving experience for me. ๐
Wow! Thatโs some intense activities you mention. Sometimes being forced into the present moment can be healing.
Music can sometimes do it for me too! Iโm glad you really seem to understand what Iโm trying to communicate. Yes! Total expression of your inner soul… exactly.
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Also! I need to get back to playing piano when my dissertation is done.
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