A Different Vacation

This week, I am by the sea- a place that, in the past, has connected me to my own internal flow, a place that has slowed me, a place that has offered quiet and rest.  So I thought it fitting to pack Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea, a timeless classic that opens me up to the contemplative.  I thought I’d re-read it this week; I don’t know what I was thinking.  

This summer I have a toddler, so naturally, the beach is somewhat different. There are schedules, obligations, and choices, and it takes effort–a striking contradiction– to relax. There is little silence.  I have yet to nap in the shade, lulled to sleep by the cadence of the waves.  Instead, I’m digging in the sand (in those brief moments when my child has forgotten about her obsession with sand-free sandals), filling and refilling buckets with water, watching, responding, fighting my need for a thoughtless moment alone. I am not complaining; my family has taken on a new shape, one that changes my experience of vacation. 

This week, I wanted to bring to you my reflections on Gift from the Sea, but this won’t be possible.  It would be hypocritical of me to spend all of my down time typing at the expense of being present.  So, I won’t.  But I can tell you this: I have much to learn from the sea.  Roll with it.  Shift.  Release.  

These truths have opened me up to finding moments every day where I take a self-inventory of my emotions- the ebb and flow of my needs and desires. Just this awareness alone offers quiet amidst noise and enables me to cling to the positive and appreciate the beauty of each moment.  I am finding that when I’m in tune with my core, I can “see” more clearly and shift with the shape of a different vacation.  

I may not be putting a dent in some of those summer reads, but I am looking out over a wide ocean that teaches me a way to live and brings me to myself. This is a gift.

Tags: life lessons, mind and body