What is an example of symbolism in the memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful?

Throughout You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Smith utilizes the ocean as a symbol for fear. On the last vacation she took with her ex-husband, she refused to go in the ocean, explaining that she did not like the inability to see what was in the water. In the same manner that she avoids the water, she avoids walking away from her maladaptive marriage because she does not know how to live without a partner. When Smith explores her identity apart from being a wife, she is able to quell the fear and apprehension that dictated her life in the past. On a trip to North Carolina, Smith swims in the ocean for the first time in years in the same manner that she opens herself to unknown experiences and relationships.