Ocean or desert?

Have you ever been involved in one of those group personality events? The kind where the facilitator asks an either/or question, and you are directed to the corner of the room designated for people who have chosen the particular answer. The ones I've been involved in were meant to help you get to know yourself, but they haven't been very effective for me. They seem rather pointless as in Real Life, we often have the option of a "both" scenario, and possibly even a "neither".

The one I clearly remember is "Would you choose the ocean or desert?" - I was unable to make a decision 30 years ago, and I am unable to choose now. Maybe it shows an unclear mind, but I prefer to think that I would, at times, be perfectly happy with either. But it's more likely that I need both - depending on the circucmstances.

The times I crave being near the desert are when I am completely disillusioned with politics (the at work kind as well as the governmental kind). When the world seems to have gone completely haywire and mad and be totally senseless and unreliable. That's when I say, only half joking: "It's time to go live in the desert". The wide open space, the huge sky, the extremes in temperature night to day, the cleanness and scarcity of evident life, the relative silence - bliss. I never need the ocean at times like this.

But walking beside the crashing ocean, being whipped by the salt laden wind, overdosing on ozone (is that possible?) ahh, that is so energising and satisfying. It never ceases to delight me that in the instant of dunking beneath the waves, most harrowing experiences are washed away, even if only temporarily, leaving you feeling cleansed and revived. It's pretty neat that such a simple and inexpensive pass-time can be so therapeutic. (I wonder if research has been done into sea swimming as being beneficial for mild cases of depression?)

So, ocean or desert? I choose both.

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