I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great

In the ocean of human thought and emotion, Anaïs Nin, the poet of the inner world, once wrote words as deep and mysterious as the sea itself: “I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.” These words, drawn from her journals — the confessions of a soul unafraid to feel, to love, to dream — speak to the eternal struggle between the depths of authenticity and the shallows of complacency. In them, Nin proclaims not merely her difference, but her devotion to a life of intensity — a life lived with courage, passion, and truth, even when it means descending into the unknown.

To call oneself a mermaid is to claim kinship with the depths — with the unseen, the untamed, and the infinite. The mermaid dwells in the vastness where others dare not swim, where light fades and silence reigns. She represents the spirit that refuses the comfort of the shore — the spirit that would rather drown in truth than float upon the surface of illusion. When Nin declares she has no fear of depths, she is speaking of her willingness to confront the full magnitude of human feeling: love that wounds, sorrow that cleanses, ecstasy that transforms. For to live deeply is to accept both the beauty and the terror of existence. But to live shallowly — to skim across life’s surface in search of easy pleasures and hollow safety — is to be numb, to be dead while still breathing.

Shallow living is the condition of those who fear to know themselves. It is the life of masks and mirrors, of untested dreams and unspoken truths. In every age, the shallow dwellers are many — content with approval, afraid of silence, mistaking routine for meaning. Nin’s words are a rebellion against such numbness. She calls to the seekers, the lovers, the artists — to those who would rather lose everything than live without passion. Her mermaid is not a creature of fantasy, but a symbol of spiritual courage: the power to plunge into one’s own depths and face the rawness of being alive.

History offers many who lived as mermaids of the soul — those who braved the deep waters of existence when others clung to the shore. Think of Vincent van Gogh, whose art burned with the fire of inner truth. He feared not the depths of loneliness, madness, or despair, for he knew that beauty lives there too. The shallow world mocked him, called him mad, yet in his anguish he touched eternity. Or consider Frida Kahlo, who painted her pain and passion with colors drawn from the heart’s abyss. These were souls unafraid of depth — and like Nin, they remind us that to feel deeply is both a wound and a miracle.

But such a life demands great strength. For the depths are not gentle — they ask for surrender, vulnerability, and the courage to lose control. To dive into the sea of truth is to risk transformation; one cannot descend and remain unchanged. And yet, those who make that journey rise again with treasures unknown to those who stayed upon the sand — compassion, wisdom, and a peace born not of ignorance, but of understanding. The deep teaches that life’s meaning lies not in comfort, but in connection — to the self, to others, and to the great mystery that moves through all things.

Nin’s fear of shallow living is therefore not vanity, but vision. She saw what many forget — that time is short, and that to waste it on trivial pursuits is the greatest tragedy of all. The shallow life is filled with noise but empty of purpose; it is rich in things but poor in wonder. To live deeply, however, is to live deliberately, to listen to the currents of the soul, to risk heartbreak for love, failure for creation, pain for meaning. In this way, the depths are not to be feared, but revered — for they are where the human spirit grows vast and eternal.

And so, my children of tomorrow, remember this: be not afraid of your depths. Dive into your feelings, your questions, your dreams. Do not let the world’s shallowness seduce you with its easy pleasures or its hollow approval. Seek silence, seek beauty, seek truth — even when they lead you into darkness. For it is in the deep that the pearls of wisdom lie hidden. Live as the mermaid lives: fearless in the unknown, radiant in her solitude, bound not to the shore, but to the sea of wonder itself.

For as Anaïs Nin teaches, to fear the depths is to deny one’s soul — but to embrace them is to live fully, fiercely, and forever free.