Sun, Sand and a Good Book

Today was my last day of holidays. Tomorrow it is back to work.

My plan was to get up early and head to my favourite surf spot for the day. Ah, the best laid plans. I slept in and got a slow start to the day. The ocean water was frigid and the skies overcast. Turned out to be the perfect day plant myself on the beach and enjoy a good book. There are few things more peaceful than reading a book to the sound of the crashing waves.

Today's read was the lyrical and poetic book Undiscovered by Debra Winger. This is her memoir and reflections from an authentic journey through life. Here are a few memorable selections that are floating about in my head - giving me pause for thought.

Why does it take so long to uncover what seems so essential once it is revealed? I take turns in my life all the time. I feel an unshakable need to search, to dig deeper, to reveal, to yield.

Occasionally, there is a feeling that the whole of your life has brought you to a certain moment. As if it were a series of vehicles that you transferred between, and all at once, you were dropped off at a certain place, and the car sped away and left you staring into the void.

Ultimately, these experiences that become infinite in nature also belong to the finite world. They live as a memory of the possibility of transformation; transformation through blunt, quizzical, and an emotionally honest look at the life around us, at ourselves- our lot. The possibility exists for all of us, at any age, to imbue our days with a breath fully taken, the thought fully formed, and the emotion wholeheartedly felt. How often do we?

Authenticity is not a goal for the faint-hearted. I have started on this journey, and I want to continue with grace.

The term "aging gracefully" has always given me pause. It sounds as if one is lingering on each landing of a descending staircase, waving elegantly. The descent is what I do not like. Aging, I feel, is more of an accession. It denotes a process that is alive and happening, growing up and getting closer, moving toward the essential: What was there in the beginning and will be there in the end.