Water has an almost universal appeal. Most people are relaxed by the sounds of waves, a brook, a gentle rain, the roar of a giant waterfall, even the passing of a thunderstorm. These sounds, and the images that go with them, have an almost magical calming effect, allowing our minds to float free and feel a sense of harmony with nature and the world around us.
The rhythm of moving water creates a mood for contemplation allowing us to put things together and understand ourselves better free of the distractions of everyday life.
It's ironic that introspection is often the key to understanding other people. We infer that others around us have the same feelings and needs-know the same sorrows and pains-by observing their behavior and comparing their feelings to our own. Only by understanding ourselves do we know what other people are going through.
Reading is another way to discover meaning and relate to what other people are thinking and feeling. Shari Cohen's short stories in Rhythm of the Sea are that kind of reading.
Think of how these stories could relate to you:
In Clear as a Belle, an ignored old woman is heard only through the unassuming ears of her grandchildren. Adults assume she lives only in her irrelevant own mind.
Lost in the Fog, a young man finds an unexpected connection during a lunchtime dalliance on the beach. A tempting, but brief potential new relationship.
In The Gift, after years of wondering, a 40-year-old married woman returns to the Oregon Coast hoping to see her first love again. What she experiences may be something that you have known.
In Rightful Journey, a father runs out to sea because he has difficulty dealing with his son's disability, and learns a lesson from the seas.
In The Goodbye Place, a teen from a small Midwest town yearns to run away to the west coast to be a rock star. At his favorite pond area, he has a vision which gives him new insight on his strengths.
In Lifeline, a young boy seeks respect from the bullies in a small town, and finds a common bond with the worst of them all.
In Alien Heart, two come to earth from a distant galaxy as advance spies to facilitate the plunder of Earth's water-rich resources, but the mission takes an unexpected turn.
In Eyes of the Gull, an old widow living in a nursing home seeks the soul of her husband.
In The Rhythm of Life, we realize that what we sometimes see as duty can become a reward, as an old man who wanted to sail the waters alone all his life recounts and realizes what it was that kept him home.
Finally, we find a Rhythm of the Soul, which supercedes other attractions to bring Dr David Chen back to his care for young patients-the real meaning in his life.
This brief foreword only gives a hint of the breadth of the stories, but every one of them relates to some common experience.
In reading Shari's stories, you will recognize yourself, and when you do, you will have a new view of yourself and how you relate to other people. You will be touched by Shari's stories about other living beings, and you will think about how much we share.
One person's life may seem only a brief moment in the millions of years of human history, but the ripples that we leave behind began with some person far in the past and continue on into the future. We each affect each other, like ripples in a pond or waves in an ocean. In this way, we each affect eternity.
We are not alone.
An ocean runs through us all and we live our lives together in the Rhythm of the Sea.
Robert J. Banis, PhD
St. Louis, Missouri
August, 2021

There is also a large print edition of this book.