02 August 2009
Myrtle Beach, SCTwo or three afternoons each week, I'm able to make it over here. I ride with the windows down and the sunroof open, flip flops on my feet and a pair of shorts over my swimsuit. I love the wild wind in my hair and the wispy white clouds on the horizon!
I arrive and I feel the sand warm in my toes, smell the tangy sea-salty air laced with suntan lotion, hear the gulls crying overhead, and watch the waves come rolling in. And as the waves come rolling in, all of that internal sediment I've mentioned earlier this summer just settles right on down. My breathing calms with the ebb and flow of the tide, my skin tingles with the salt and sun on my skin, and I take deep breaths of an air so rich it's almost like food. It is food, food for my soul. This is my Mass and the beach is my Church. This is where I hope to go today.
Nature is a powerful being for many people and often connects us to ourselves ... and to a sense of Something (or Someone) beyond ourselves.
Do you ever go to Nature for healing?
What is your favorite Natural place to be?
What do you find there?
What is your "church"?
Any and all of your thoughts are welcomed on this Sunday.
What is your favorite Natural place to be?
What do you find there?
What is your "church"?
Any and all of your thoughts are welcomed on this Sunday.
Om shanti.
Namaste.
Myrtle Beach, SC
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24 comments:
Always go to nature for healing. Grew up on a farm and with 9 siblings nature was the only uncrowded and private healing place.
I don't have a favorite place because I love it any time and any where I'm outside!
The beach is my favorite place to go, too. And I haven't been in *so* long. I ache for it; my distance from the sea is like a physical pain that throbs in my soul. I long to smell the air, play in the surf, and let the sun burn my cares away....
Thank you for sharing this. How I wish I could go there with you!
Hi there - first of all - your blog is beautiful not only the words but the whole look - love it.
thanks for you comments about my lack of tears : ) I think I am feeling just the way you described. I have heard that yoga can help open the heart. I do yoga. Yet, I need to up my practice to more than just once sometimes twice a week.
anyways, thanks - it is good to know that I am not alone. Enjoy that beach!
Water ALWAYS has that effect on me. Whether it's a trickling stream, the calming stillness of a lake, the methodical hum of an ocean tide, or the unfathomable power of Niagara Falls... water renews my soul.
Beautiful post!
Sorry about the duplicate, CG. My laptop's been crashing so I copy comments in case it does. It did, and then I pasted one back and published without finishing it. I deleted it ready to start again, but didn't realise it would still show. I wanted to say how happy am to see you feeling happier and stronger and feeling more 'restored' and like your 'real self' every week.
Most things heal me; it's the moment my quiet, still voice tells that I'm in need of some healing that sets off the magic.
Fresh air does it for me; so does any natural water. The details of plants in gardens remind me that nature is as powerful in a seed as it is in a mountain. And children restore me. They're hope and healing and happiness on legs.
But the sea...that's something completely different. Two minutes there can restore and recharge me more than anything else I know. It's where I feel like I've come home, like I'm part of its pull, one of its waves.
@Tess: I love being outside, too, and often go "out" just to think. Nature is very healing for me, but the sea? It's magic.
@Jay: "My distance from the sea is like a physical pain that throbs in my soul." This is beautiful, Jay, and a sentiment that I can relate to entirely. I am sorry to hear that you are so starved for the sea. In my own way, I will enjoy it for you ... and hope that you can visit it again soon. Sending hugs.
p.s. Was just wondering if there are any parts of the sea you can re-create there to soothe you until then ... ?
@Dmoms: Hi, Denise. Thank you for the lovely note about my blog. And thank you for the comments about my comment. :) Tears are healing, too, and made of the same stuff as the sea. Hmmmmm ....
@Lisis: Hi, friend! Water is amazing isn't it? The images you share ... all of them cleanse, sustain, calm and nourish me. Are you by any chance a water sign? Just curious.
@Janice: I love so many things about your comment here: the mention of fresh air (YES!), the details of plants (I've been known to cry just from entering a flower garden), the "happiness on legs" that children are. But my favorite part of your note is this: "[The sea] is where I feel like I've come home, like I'm part of its pull, one of its waves." You've spoken my heart here. Thank you!
I'm also a lover of the sea. I live just south of L.A. and it's just a short ride to the Pacific where I find peace in the sound of the waves and birds and the smell of the salt water.
Enjoy your Sunday. I'll do the same. Namaste. --Lori
Wonderful post! I'm not a big nature person, but there is something about the sea that is just so amazing and moving. The vastness of it is just mind-blowing. What a great post, Chania Girl. Thanks for sharing all of your wisdom and thoughts with us.
Hey CG, I am totally with you on this one. Nature is a huge healer for me. In fact, if it weren't for the Canadian Rocky Mountains helping me heal from the D word, I don't know where I would have ended up such was their impact.
Now, like you, I head for the beach. Just as powerful for filling the soul. I'm always saying to Chris, how I need to feel the sand between my toes. Food for the soul no doubt. Thanks hon, great post and so pleased to hear the sediment is settling.
Chania Girl,
It's so, so good to hear that you have this place to visit, and to really connect you to your soul. I believe this very much - at our core, we are nature. WE are living beings, just like the animals, the grass, the sea. And so I believe there is a natural tendency for people to connect with nature in some way. Water does have that effect on me as well. In fact, just last night, my wife and I went for a walk in the neighboring town, around a small lake they have. And there was this one moment, as we were nearing the end, with the sun setting, a purple haze to the sky - and I just stopped - I felt so connected to my soul at that moment. So, I believe I know the feeling you experience at the sea - or at least something similar. And it just feels so "right". I can get that feeling just walking around in our backyard also - although it just feels like a deeper connection when there's water involved. Maybe it's the life-giving properties of water. And in my life, on a more spiritual level, I'm seeking that same life-giving property. Maybe it's nature's gift to us - water - in all that it gives...
My hope for you, Chania Girl, is much peace over the next weeks you have here.
With much caring,
Lance
Hi Chania Girl,
I love going to nature for healing. When I lived closer to the ocean, it was there I went. Now, I can find healing as close as my garden.
@Lori: Hi, Lori. I've always wanted to see the Pacific but never have. You are lucky to have it so close to you. I'm sure it's beautiful. Namaste to you, too, this Monday morning.
Positively Present: I agree with you, PP: the vastness of the sea is mind-blowing. Sometimes it really scares me, but I think that's a good thing because the sea is not some tame, sweet beast. It's a force! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I thought of you as I was writing it and could imagine you in your own flip flops, lying out in the sun with an US Weekly! (Hope that's okay). Too bad you're not in SC!
@Sami: Hi, Sami, my beautiful friend! I'd never thought about the healing power that your actual environment while in Canada could have given but, my God, you are so right. I imagine being in the middle of such beauty and majesty worked its alchemical magic on you in many ways. Nature is amazing!
@Lance: Lance, I am so glad that you shared an actual experience with us of one of your own encounters with Nature ... and a very recent one at that! I could "see" the lake you described and understand the connection you felt at that moment.
Like you and Lisis, I am deeply moved by the presence of water: it does feel like there's a deeper connection. And maybe it's because we're mostly water (salt water) ourselves.
Thank you for the wishes for peace.
@Barbara: Hi, Barbara. It was so good to see you today. Gardens are beautiful places, full of so much life. Even when they look placid and still, there is a whole world of busy-ness going on, a lot of very intricate relationships working in balance. It's only fitting that one could find solace and soul-connection there.
hey CG,
I can't express how happy I am about where you {physically} are right now. I think --I hope-- relationships are healing? May this be a gorgeous, wonderful, growing time in your life. Embrace every day and every experience.
My "church" is my garden...in the dirt, in my flowers or my veggies. Like you, nature soothes me. Of course, we don't live near the beach...but once we move ???! I love the idea of being closer to the ocean.
@Kirwin: Thank you for sharing my joy with me, Karen. I am happy, and you are right: relationships are healing! I am embracing as much as I can ... and taking a ton of photos, too.
I love that your "church" is your garden. Isn't the feel of cool dirt between your fingers and toes a wonderful thing? The smell!!! And then the visual beauty of watching things come up! So glad you shared this with us. I can see you gardening away, blissfully happy, totally zen.
You are blessed to be in such a beautiful place and to realize the beauty and holiness of nature. I often do go to a place such as this to listen to the quiet.
@Mark: Hi, Mark. So glad to hear that you have a place to go to, as well, and listen to the quiet. I think this is something most of us need, and need more often.
Hi Carla!
It is great to be back and read your reflective writing!
Interesting timing of this post, as I just returned from nature, so yes I love it for healing and relaxation. I cannot imagine a better place!
Although my vacation did not include the ocean, but rather forests this time, I love the sand and beach scapes. That is where I would ultimately like to live, as it is there where I feel so whole, peaceful and one with nature. But really I love any place in nature, I cannot discriminate against its immense beauty and tranquility.
@Evita: Evita, it is so good to have you back. Like you, I can't really discriminate against any of the beauty nature has to offer. Such beauty and wonder is around us. But the sea has to be my favorite for sure. Am glad you had a healing, relaxing time while you were away. I can "hear" it in what you write and in the new photos you've posted. Welcome back!
When I lived in New Orleans my favorite place was the Lake Front. It was majestic! Since moving to Texas my home has become my church. I find great peace and comfort here. I have a huge bedroom window which allows me to see beautiful flowers, birds and often time deer. This all makes me joyful. :o)
@Tabitha: I love the description you gave of your home and how it is your "church." I don't know if I've ever really heard from anyone who have been able to say the same, and that you can say this is a wonderful thing.
I need nature for healing. For me it's BIG trees and the woods. I could spend days in the forest. I just came back from an incredible vacation where I was 8 days in the woods...heaven! I took walks each morning so I could just be surrounded by the beauty and feel grounded by these huge beautiful trees. Someday I will have a little cabin in the woods...
@Caroline: Caroline, your 8 days in the woods sound wonderful. And I love that you love BIG trees! There is something very magical and mysterious about forests and the quiet power of trees; they seem to speak of things old and long-forgotten, of wisdom that we once knew and should tap into once again. I think this is why I always loved Tolkien's the Two Towers.
Welcome back, friend! Hoping to see more of your beautiful photography and your gentle words once again.
chania Girl, your words are as wonderful as your spirit! I just discovered your site and I'm SO EXCITED to see a "youngster" have such wisdom. Ah, hope for the future.
My church as always been nature; seashore, forest, backyard clump of clover to lie in at night and stargaze; most recently the gardens that I tend in a campground every summer. As far as I'm concerned, I live in church and life is good!
@Jeanne: Jeanne! Hi! Oh, it's wonderful to have you stop by today, and I'm so glad that you like the site. It does my heart good to hear that and to hear that you, too, are a fellow "worshipper." There is such wonder and beauty and majesty around us, isn't there? The holy is never far away! Your campground is a little slice of heaven.
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