“Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.” - Robert Henri
Just picture this:
A cool breeze on a warm night.
The salty wind blowing through your hair.
Walking bare foot along the beach.
The sound of the sea crashing against the rocks.
The sun has just set behind the high-rise buildings.
And the sky is a multitude of colours: pinks, reds, blues, greys …
The wispy clouds are gliding through the air.
When I'm stressed or just need to get away, I get in my car and drive to the beach.
I'm not normally the sort of person who enjoys beach parties or loves spending hot summers days lying on the sand. And every time I wade in the sea, I seem to partially drown more then swim. But whenever I'm tense or just need to run away from the mundane chores of everyday life, I end up at the beach. I find that the combination of the salty breeze, the feel of the sand between my toes and the smell of the sea seem to just relax me.
I found myself driving towards the beach the other night; I just got in car and drove. I didn’t have any intension of going anywhere, and I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t even have the radio playing; I just drove around till I realised I was heading towards the beach about a half an hours drive from my house. For someone who doesn’t like laying on the beach in a swimsuit or swimming in the sea, I seem to head straight for those sand covered rocks when I'm in need of some stress-release. When I got there I just let my mind wonder free; I didn’t have any chores to do; I didn’t have to go to work, and I left my uni work behind. I needed the peace.
When I got there I walked along the beach, my shoes stuffed in my handbag and my jeans rolled up around my calves. I didn’t have a care in the world. I just watched the couples holding hands as they passed my on the sand. There was a man throwing a stick for his dog into the sea. Children were protesting that they had to leave their freshly dug holes and head home. It was a typical beach scene, and it was exactly what I needed. I watched these people for a few hours. Just watching them put me at ease. It took my mind off everything that was stressing me out, and thus made me feel calmer then I had done all day.
By just driving to the beach, watching those people just go about their daily lives, and experiencing the changes in the sky was so blissful that I just let the rest of the world fall away. I waited till the sky turned a inky shade blue before I started back for my car.
I knew that by walking across the beach didn’t help me work out any of my problems, as they were still waiting for me when I returned home. But just for those few hours that I didn’t have to work, talk or do anything at all was just what I needed. I need the time to escape form the world to be alone with my thoughts, even though when I got the beach I had no thoughts left that seem to matter. It was blissful.
Do you have a place where you go to when you need to escape the world?
It may be the beach; it could be a park; it might even be just taking a hot soppy bath.
Everyone needs time for themselves, and everyone needs to escape their daily lives.
#Life
#Contemplation
#Beach
#Thought
#Peace
#Escape
#Daily Life
#Time
#Me Time
#Life Skills