After a relatively productive morning of waking, coffee-making and a trip to the next town over for a personal appointment, I was left sitting here on this couch at 1 o'clock in the afternoon wondering what in the hell I was going to do with the rest of my day. After weighing a few options I decided to run down to Natural Bridges State Beach, approximately 1.2 miles down the hill from my apartment. This is new for me: I usually run loops around neighborhoods. This was a destination run.
As usual, I took a wrong turn, and instead of getting to the state beach, I found myself running down a highway, left on a residential street, over abandoned train tracks, and into a vast expanse of gardens, farms and wildflowers. Off in the distance, I could see the ocean. I ran ran ran.
I ran ran ran and, finally, I came to a stop at the edge of a cliff. No one was around. Far in out in the waves I could make out a lone surfer, but as far as I was concerned it was just me and the ocean, crashing and bashing against the flat, stage-like rocks below me.
It was too steep to get down to the beach, so I sat on a bed of ice plant at the edge of the furthest reach of the cliff and I closed my eyes.
First it was before me, and then suddenly it was all around me, and then it was within me, and then we were one.
I have never felt so utterly at peace in a physical place, so it follows that this place goes beyond the physical and expands to lap against the sea-rocks of my spirit. That is what this seashore is to me: it is my spirit place. My temple. I sat there with my eyes closed for at least twenty minutes. Maybe it was more. I could have sat there forever, and something tells me that when my body is no more, that is what I will do.
I obviously can't disclose the location of my heaven but, to give a general idea of how beautiful it is, this photo was taken a ways down the shore.
too beautiful. i felt that way when i went to the ocean last weekend. i sat on the beach and stared at the waves for what seemed like hours. most of my weekend was me just staring off in the distance. there is something stirring and calming and powerful about the ocean.
ReplyDeleteisn't there? a woman once told me that instead of going to church, she goes to the ocean, because that's where she finds god. although her definition of god and mine likely differ, what she said has stuck with me for years. i can never be too far from the ocean; it makes me feel almost claustrophobic.
Deletethank you for your comment :) it's a lovely feeling to know that what i write resonates with someone.