Where the Magic Happens...This Week, at Least

There is an undeniable beauty to the beach that never fails to leave me with this sense of overwhelming gratitude that I'm (to quote Ariel, The Little Mermaid) "part of this world." The tides fascinate me, both in their strength and their grace. They sculpt the shorelines when they come in and leave small treasures when they recede. Those small treasures could be corals, shells, sand dollars, starfish, driftwood, sea glass or an infinite number of other things. Doesn't matter to me seeing as I love them all and will spend as much time as is physically possible wandering the beach looking for those treasures. And treasures don't have to be perfect or whole. Bits and pieces are just as valuable. Perhaps that's the lesson to take away from 2016...

My favorite time to walk the beach is at the tail end of high tide's recession when my chances are best for finding the coolest stuff the ocean has to offer. It's also when I tend to do a great deal of introspective evaluation about a great many things, not the least of which is my writing. I plot out storylines, consider a hundred solutions to a single story problem, flesh out characters, ratchet up the tension to specific scenes, solve pacing issues, create more complex but (always) authentic conflict, and more. It's a wonderful time to let my imagination run wild, to shed its restraints and let it dare to consider the most incredible problems and most outrageous solutions. That time is mine, not to ever be shared with practicality or reason. And from that freedom is often born the most wonderful possibilities. 

The thing I love the most, though, is the sheer magnitude of the ocean itself. She leaves me feeling wonderfully small and insignificant. Why is that a good thing? Because if I'm small, my problems surely can't be so large as they seem. They are proportionate to me and my size, and beside the ocean's seemingly infinite expanse? I am a small shell, somewhat battered by life's waves, and my problems are nothing more than a grain of sand. 

This week was a wonderful reminder for me, despite the physical costs I paid for the adventure. I needed it more than I knew. I'm already planning on going back.

Until next time,
​Kelli