First, let me apologize for the overdue posting. I was gone on vacation for a week at the beach, and then got caught up doing all those things you have to do to get back into your regular every day life. However, the beach has inspired a number of posts, so watch for them! Update: I wrote this on 11/18, but due to some website issues it didn’t go live until 11/21. OOPS!
It’s no secret that the beach is a place of peace, rejuvenation, and centering for many people. In fact, there’s even a recent study that shows that “Increased views of blue space is significantly associated with lower levels of psychological distress.” So, I don’t have to ask, “Am I the only one?” I am clearly not! When we spend time with expanses of blue (water, sky, etc) we reduce our psychological distress, INNATELY!
Last week I spent the whole week at North Myrtle Beach enjoying the sand and ocean with friends. I spent a lot of time alone with the water, just kind of taking it all in. My favorite time of day to walk is sunset. (I know, I sound like I’m typing a cheesy dating profile, but hang in there with me just a bit more.) I choose sunset because I am mesmerized by the colors and the way light plays with everything it touches. Wildlife behaves differently, the sounds are crisper and there is a stillness that enters despite the constant movement around us. Many of you may experience the same thing at sunrise, I’m just not often up at that hour.
On one particular sunset walk, I was reminded of my friend who was back at the condo. She has loved the beach since childhood. In fact, when she was young, her parents could hardly pry her away from it. So, her father would tell her that it was time for him to drain the ocean to get it ready for the next day. Then, they’d close all the blinds in the room to hopefully prevent her from seeing the ocean. Then in the morning, she’d run out and throw open the blinds and excitedly announce to the family, “He filled it back up again!”
I think what triggered this memory was experiencing the changing tide that evening. You see, my second favorite time to walk the beach is low tide. At approximately 6:00 in the evening, low tide had fully passed and we were slowly climbing back up to high tide. This change in the tides is part of the magic of the sunset stroll. The ocean begins to recreate the tide pools that were drained as part of low tide as the ocean itself prepares to consume the beach. On this evening, I could truly feel both the pull and drain from the water running back into the ocean and could watch the ocean deposit new waters on the beach.
During low tide, tourists flock to the beach, there’s so much sand to walk, shells to discover, it’s a great time. But we don’t often, or I don’t often, think about the way high tide comes in, and how it is fully dependent on the low tide. If we only experienced high tide after high tide, we’d be in a constant state of flooding with waters overwhelming all of the vegetation and life upon the beach. And if we only experienced low tide, the beach would literally begin to smell with the rot of life buried in parched sands.
This evening I was amazed by the tides coming in. I literally watched shells of all sizes and shapes roll UP the beach in the waves. It was like the ocean was depositing them at my feet. I watched tide pools that were beginning to dry out grasp onto the waves as they rolled over and then cling to the water, creating gentle currents further up the sand. Yes, THIS is what I needed. I needed to be filled up. I needed new adventures and discoveries. I needed light to dance on all the surfaces and change the way I viewed things. I needed the high tide to roll in!
It was then, that my real lesson started to set in. We have to experience the drain and the pull of low tide. The times when we feel water rushing from us to this larger body of water, they are essential. This time in my life prior to this evening, it wasn’t just a shitty experience I had to struggle through, it was a necessary part of the journey.
My walk on the beach became as much a part of letting go, as it was being filled. I started to choose to release things that were taking up space where the adventures and light wanted to be. I began to accept that some dreams were not meant for now, and some might never be. I began to release tension, and worry, and anger. I began to enjoy the idea of waiting to see what great new “shells” would take the spot of the things I released.
Now, let’s be real. I know full well, that some of those exact same shells I released, will make their way back in my life. That not everything that comes during our time of filling up will be amazing and beautiful. I know I have not experienced my last disappointment. I know that I’m human and prone to anger, anxiety and grudges. I know that I will continue to grieve, at times, losses and unfulfilled dreams. What is different is that I was reminded that if I embrace the process, these too are just momentary things.
As I reenter my life, far from the ocean, I am challenged to discover new ways to embrace both the drain and the filling of my life. To invest my energy and my time in things that are the most important to me. To let go of things that are not building a life, but getting in my way. To take time, to notice the sun, the “shells”, the love that wants to come and fill me when I let go of the things no longer working.
Well, that’s a pleasant and pretty trite way to end a blog. And as I proofed it, I thought, “I haven’t given them anything they can actually apply!” So, here’s our homework, today find the bluest blue you can find (even if on your computer screen) and sit. Place your feet on the ground, close your eyes (or if this is unsafe for you, fix your gaze on a spot out in front of you), and place your hands on your thighs with palms up. And then, just SIT. Imagine the tide rolling over you. Imagine allowing the thing you’re grasping onto to be released and wait with willing hands for the next shell that may come. Hey, why not use this video here to help! It was taped on one of my walks last week.