When life calls for Vitamin Sea

In the giant rush of all the madness that encompasses your life and the time that everyone wants a slice of you, there is always some place which is your refuge. That place which only our few closest ones know of. It could be the quiet corner in the library amidst those books which are not that frequented. It could have been that comfortable branch of the age old tree whose canopy leaves told you stories of days gone by while sunlight played hide and seek with you. If you were lucky, you’d have had a patch of a river bank where you could sit and watch the ripples in the water and practice your stone throwing skills, seeing how far you could skip those stones before they sunk.

If you were from the mountains, you’d have your own private view point where you’d have had a vantage position over the land and felt like the lord of all beneath and marveled at the various shades of the sky as the sun makes its journey in the sky. I’ve been fortunate to have had a glimpse of the solitude that each of these have had to offer. I’m partial to none of these, although, I do have fond memories of each. However, I for some reason, have always been drawn to the beach, the place as someone described where the land meets the sea and the sea meets the sky.

Being brought up in a coastal town could explain why the sea holds such a fascination. You might wonder, what’s so special? It’s just a mass of swirling water after all, washing ashore and then being pulled back like a well-worn routine, with grains of sand spread across miles of land which have the annoying habit of sneaking into your shoes and making it difficult to walk. The smell ain’t nothing much to write home about either.

I’d like to think that like mature wine or aged scotch, seaside is a solace that grows on you. You’d need to pick your time of visit with care as choosing to be in the beach in the middle of the day with the sun burning down on you or visiting late at night when the tide is high could be a bane. I’d stick with dawn or dusk.

The distinctive tangy smell of the sea is the first thing that greets you from over half a mile away before you reach the seashore or hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Once you are closer, the grains of sand weave through your toes, greeting you like friends who’re glad to see you back. Some experiences are best enjoyed barefoot, and from this point forward would definitely be one among them.

The point where the waves come and lap at your feet like they are eager to play, but not sure if you can keep up with them, is one of my favorite spots to warm up. As I walk along the waterfront with the waves gently slapping at my feet, I’ve often rolled on my worries and the waves have at times lapped them right off me! I’ve enjoyed taking a turn amidst the waves and letting it lift me up along with the waves. They come rushing to meet you, like a long lost friend and give you a hug that could lift you off your feet.

Even if one were to forgo getting wet or were not in the mood to play in the waves, you could just perch yourself somewhere in the shore and let the wind rip through your hair and let the voice of the sea speak to you. As author Kate Chopin once said, ‘The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace’. One could sit and enjoy one of the biggest screens of creation, all spread out, just for them and all without a cost! You watch the distant ships charting their course on unknown land and see a couple of fishermen ready their boats to set sail folding in their nets to catch their fare. In the meanwhile, the canvas of the sky change hues of glorious shades of blue mixed with red and orange which shimmer across the surface of the water with the Sun playing peekaboo between the clouds. Often in those quiet times, when I’ve enjoyed the show, like it’s been put up solely for me, I’ve felt most at peace with myself.

The sea often makes us feel really insignificant by its vastness and allows us to garner a fresh perspective on things which rue our life. Like writer Sarah Kay said, “there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away." It kind of gives the forbearance to give another chance to solve whatever it was that was clouding our day. If you were to give it some more time, you’d find the rhythm in the waves and they could help you set a tune alight in your heart as well.  

And as I’ve often gathered up my things and bid adieu to the sea, I’ve felt the sound of waves, the smell of the sea and the whistle of the wind, call out to me, asking me to not be a stranger and come visit again. The memories of a visit to the beach linger longer in our minds than the footprints do in the sand. 

Random pickings of a sleepy mind

You’ve been thinking of the perfect way to start a conversation or have been struggling with a quick comeback to something your friend or colleague had said or it’s just that you wanted a perfect opening to the next blog or article you wanted to write and all this eluded your grasp at that particular time no matter how hard you tried.

Now let’s fast forward to the time when you hit your head on the pillow and are ready to call it a night. Just when you’ve closed your eyes and have gone through what’s happened during the day and are almost drifting off to sleepy land the unimaginable happens. The answer to your conversation starter, smart comeback or perfect opening creep up on you.

And without a thought as to why it’s coming in now you go on to place your mind at that thoughts disposal, weaving lines and words into beautiful order, so much so that it kind of feels like it is running into a beautiful commentary. You always wonder at some point as to how articulate you are and feel proud that you could produce a work like this, forgetting that it is just a work of fiction, and in more ways than one.

There have been days, or rather nights to be precise, where I have had deep arguments and conversations with people who I’ve wanted to give a piece of my mind or written a beautiful piece in those minutes when I was just slipping into dream land and then to be lost forever when I wake up the next day.

I sometimes wonder if these would resurface again and if the logic and points I had raised in my thoughts during those moments would come to my aide if I were in a similar situation some time later. But I’m never sure how that works or if once the thoughts are formed they are lost somewhere in the echelons of the mind buried within other data never to see the light of day or pen again.

Talking of pens, I’ve often thought of keeping a pen and paper at my bedside table to help jot down the points, but hey I’m too lazy to wake and put those thoughts to paper. Who knows when I wake up mayhap I lose the plot all together. So I’ll just stick on to enjoy that moment when I can and not sweat too much about how I could use it for my benefit.