~Corona connection~
I would consider myself a guardian of this beach.
It’s a place I have known since before I was even born,
A shore I’ve walked up and down on average at least once a week for my whole life.
This includes the years I’ve spent not even living here
Because at other times I would walk this beach every day, at least once.
It was always almost empty.
That’s what I liked about it. It was my solace, my quiet resting place.
Once, after a heated argument I had taken myself to the sand dunes to recharge.
I fell asleep there, completely asleep with no towel, no bag, nothing to indicate I was sunbathing. I was wearing all of my clothes and had a journal resting on my tummy. I was awoken by a panicked looking asking me if I was OK. . Once he realised I was actually just sleeping, he turned to anger, and told me I should be careful.
Careful of what I thought? I was just here resting in my quiet place.
I knew all the times to visit the beach when she would be most quiet.
I would do my ritual walk. Beginning with a question,
And always returning with an answer.
Today was the strangest of all beach walks I have ever had on this sand.
The usually almost overpowering energy of the beach was spread amongst
Hundreds of people.
That’s right, hundreds! Of other walkers, on “my beach”
I couldn't believe it.
Today is week 3 of Quarantine,
The world has changed.
We are practising “social distancing”
The invisible threat of a deadly and contagious virus sees us all stuck in our homes, out once a day for exercise and keeping 1.5 metres away from each other at all times.
We can’t touch anything, especially not our own faces.
It’s an extremely strange time to put it mildly
But today walking down my beach, you would never have known there was a global pandemic.
It was the warmest this place had ever felt, and I don’t mean temperature. There was a crisp breeze and I wore 2 jumpers to the sea .As I began to walk the sky danced with the most erratic and stunning cloud displays I had seen in a long time. A huge storm cell loomed overhead painting one side of the sky deep blue. The other half shone in streaks of pink and orange as the sunset kissed the water, painting the shore in love coloured light.
But there was something so tantalizing about this night, so different.
I felt like I was in Brasil, or the coast of Colombia, somewhere pumping with life and vibrant people. Somewhere where everybody is hugging, everyone is really ALIVE.
But this is very far from any of those places. Yet this night felt it!
I felt the warmth dripping from people as they walked, they looked curiously out into the sky and into the eyes of strangers.
They played with the wind,
With the waves,
They played like kids,
There was no phones to be seen ,
No one darting their eyes to avoid the other,
No one madly jogging in sneakers avoiding the spectacular sunset.
The warmth was presence.
People were LIVING
People were happy!
They were Grateful,
I could feel it on my skin and it was infectious.I could smell the distant scent of many meals cooking cose by.I had never in my life smelt this here. People were home, and they were cooking.All of the restaurants were closed, and the people had gone back home.
They had come back to themselves, they were grateful for the sea air, and to have other beings around them.
The cloud cover thickened , promising the relief of the storm. I let my joy dance with everyone else’s on the beach. I realised that we all had time and we all knew it too.
We were all connected by the same “invisible threat”,
and by the same innate desire to connect,
The same spice for life,
And desire to melt into the sunset.
I stood still for a moment, Soaking in the spaciousness.
Things are meant to take time,
The words fell from the sky,
And imprinted deeply into my mind,
Things are supposed to take time.
I held this in my body,
Feeling the melt,
Feeling the joyous knowing
That life is to be enjoyed
There is no race
There is no rush
There is no plan
There is only time,
I softened into this,
Excited to remember this truth time and time again,
To practice melting everyday,
To live my life in flow with this ultimate surrender,
To become one with the sunset.
I’m so excited to take my time.
~Thank you for the warmth ~ Corona connection
10/4/20