Lessons from the beach
Every year, I travel with my husband and family to the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina. This is a place I love, a trip I look forward to all year. I love to be outside as much as possible. To feel the expansiveness of the day from sun up to moon up, I love to feel the flow of natural time. Here are a few of the lessons I take from my time at the beach:
Be grateful for each new day - There is no better way to start the day than watching the sunrise over the ocean. There is no better way than to end the day watching the sun slip into the water. Watching the sun (and moon) rise and fall throughout the day makes me feel so damn grateful for every moment I have on this planet. How awesome that seeing the sun rise happens every day, like a gift from the divine. We don’t know how many more sunrises and sunsets we get, so to make the most of them, I love to pause at these magical (and sacred) times of the day to say or think about what I’m grateful for. The pause for gratitude is the antidote to fear and worry. And it’s the way to connect to Source.
Go with the flow - The ocean ebbs and flows all day, every day. It literally does not stop flowing, how freaking cool is that? Sometimes the waves are choppy and sometimes the sea is smooth. No matter the conditions, they will, at some point, change again. The ocean reminds me that the only constant is change and that we are always morphing and shape shifting. To try to resist the changes (in life or the tide) is foolish. Instead, I practice (and it is a practice for sure) going with the flow and knowing that although I cannot change the wind, but I can adjust my sails.
Celebrate uniqueness- I love birding. In particular, watching birds in the same environment and how very different they are. On the same stretch of Atlantic beach, the variety between a pelican, a sand piper and a seagull reminds me that each of us can find our own path. Each bird has a different method for getting food, nesting, etc. Their unique shape and behavior is adapted for their goals and needs. As humans, we each have our own goals and different ways to meet those goals. The sand piper hunting on the shore doesn’t try the dive bombing method of the pelican. Rather, they each do their own thing to the best of their ability. What a great lesson…we don’t need to be someone else, we need to be unapologetically ourselves. Celebrate how unique we each are and what gifts we bring to the world.
Invite a childlike sense of curiosity - My husband and I rent bikes at the beach yet we don’t do this anywhere else. And we ride them 3-4 times a day with such joy that it feels like we’re kids. Sometimes we ride for a purpose like picking up snacks or getting sunscreen but sometimes we just cruise without a destination. We giggle, play music or listen to the birds. We race each other, tell stories and take pictures of interesting plants and critters. I am reminded of the feeling I had when I was 10 years old, cruising through the neighborhood as if it was the most interesting place on the planet. Inviting curiosity is good for me at an individual level and it’s lovely in my marriage to experience wonder and freedom together with my partner.
Know when to rest and when to keep going - There’s such joy in an afternoon nap. There is equal joy in the afternoon coffee while reading in the shade of the covered porch listening to the birds. To learn the discernment between these is a dance, and one I am still learning the steps to. I notice this rest observing the deer that made their way from one end of the neighborhood to the other. Sometimes they hustled and other times they took the long way. We don’t need to rush all the damn time, and nature is sooooo good at reminding us of that.
I love the mountains, I love the desert, I love many different environments. But the beach, she is my love. The sky and water and earth that are so deeply connected to each other with little me in the middle. Nature is, as always, our greatest teacher. And I am so honored for just 7 days to slow down, to nourish my nervous system and tap into the wisdom that is all around me. I send gratitude for these lessons from nature, today and every day.
What type of nature do you feel most at home in? Where are you most inspired? I’d love to hear the lessons you get from being in a natural environment.