A Girl Could Get Used To This

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** I always thought that I would love to live by the sea/To travel the world alone and live more simply/I have no idea what’s happened to that dream/’Cause there’s really nothing left here to stop me** “Life For Rent” - Dido

There are few better things to do in this world than start your morning sitting quietly next to the ocean, using all your senses to take in the world surrounding you. The calming rhythm of the waves coming in, going out, coming in again. The feel of warm sand under your feet and between your toes. The sun and breeze on your skin, through your hair, in your pores. The water lapping at your ankles and every once in awhile reminding you of it’s power to take you by surprise and wetting the bottom of your rolled up jeans. The contrasts of the sky and sand, sun and water. The surfers in their shiny black wetsuits disrupting the continuous blues, whites, browns, greens of the ocean. The horizon - wondering what is beyond what your eyes can see. From where I was looking, the next land you hit is the east coast of Africa. Imagine not knowing. Imagine looking from that coast just a couple hundred years ago and having absolutely no idea what the rest of the world held. And there's still more to discover.

The vastness and unending nature of the ocean gets me every time. All this water, with land interspersed. I get quiet; reflective. It’s just so much bigger than anything else. It’s bigger than my problems or questions, it’s bigger than “am I making the right decision?”, bigger, even, than “what’s my role on the planet?” I look to the ocean for advice. It’s like a great friend who listens as you to pour your heart out for the upteenth time. It accepts all your hopes and dreams, your questions and regrets, and allows you to stir your thoughts up in it so when you walk away you have a better understanding of what it is you want to do. Which is why this entry is titled as it is. I could get used to spending part of my day sitting next to the ocean, taking time to be quiet, because “the quieter you become, the more you can hear.” I have been in this particular ocean in 4 or 5 different countries, now, and it’s never the same. But it’s always the same. It’s been the same for millions of years. The ocean inspires people to question themselves and their lives because if something this vast, with this much untamed energy, exists, how can their lives be anywhere as important as they thing it is? The Earth is huge. We are but small organisms in it, lucky to share the wealth.

I spoke to a man who goes to dialysis for 5 hours a day, 3 days a week. He’s in his late 70’s, early 80’s I think. He gave me the secrets to leaving your legacy and leaving the world a little better than when you found it.

Number 1. Raise children
Number 2. Plant a tree
Number 3. Write a book

It seems so simple. Is that all you really need to do? I guess it's just one person's understanding of how to leave his legacy. I'll have to decide the best way to leave mine.

Click here for pictures of Mar Del Plata, Argentina. Or, you can cut and paste this link:

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Photos

MDP - Beach
The Argentine flag in the wind

MDP
Untouched land in Mar Del Plata

MDP - Beach
View to the water

MDP - Beach
View to the water

MDP - Beach
View to the water

MDP - Beach
On a beach; apparently not one of the "good" beaches

Comments

[jamaicaw]

no link to pics
Actually, there is no picture link. These are all the pics I have. Enjoy!

[Momma]

The view from land's end
Perspective is a wonderful thing. So glad you are opening yourself up to these wider and wider encounters in the world. A girl SHOULD get used to this. The trick is figuring out how to make it part of the fabric of everyday life, so that wherever you are and whatever you're doing there is a sense of adventure and discovery in it. Even if the view is just out the window, it will be your unique window on the world. (Speaking of views out of windows, I am sitting at my/our desk watching spring unfold in earnest now. It is astonishing, yet again!) Love and kisses to you. I'll see you on Tuesday. Momma

[Robin Wood]

Mar del Plata
BTW, that forest in Mar del Plata looks magical! Is that our land?

[Persnicketus]

A Man Could Get Used to That, Too!!!
Hey, Jake! I've been exceptionally busy and exceptionally whipped at day's end as a result. I've read this blog entry twice but am only now responding. Sounds wonderful!