Henry David Thoreau was a peaceful person and a beautiful author. In March of 1845, he moved to the banks of Waldon Pond looking for peace from the rest of the world. This is where he stayed for two years, growing his own vegetables and visiting town whenever he longed for the company of others.
This was his way of seeking peace. His experiment helped him find stillness of the mind and distance from the crazy feelings that come about from living in the world.
In this way, I feel a common need with Thoreau. There are times when my mind begs for peace. The only problem is, the place where I am always able to achieve that peace is far away from where I live.
Oh sure, I can visit sometimes, but since I have a husband (who has a career) and children (who need to go to school) picking up and moving near the ocean isn’t such an easy task. But for me, there is no place on earth where I am so able to find stillness of mind the way I do when I’m near the ocean.
Unlike Thoreau, the mountains are not it for me, nor are the many lakes in my area. It’s the ocean—the ebb and flow of rolling waves, the smell of salt and brine, the sight of fish flopping about as they fly feet from where they last touched the water—that gives my mind the rest I cannot find anywhere else. The constant, calming blue, blue, blue…
But there is one other place. And I can go there anytime I want. I visit everyday. In the arms of the man I love and the children we created. My home is my peace. Every night, I lay down in the most comfortable bed in the world, inside the home built by love (okay, and wood and brick and other building materials), surrounded by the most important people in my life, and whatever else is wrong in the world stays out.
That isn’t to say I don’t get angry, or that things don’t bother me, or keep me up at night. More often than not, I come home and the house I left clean an hour ago is a wreck, and the kids are fighting, and my husband is wondering what I’ve done all day—since the house isn’t clean and blah blah blah—but the truth is, when everything else is wrong, this is the place I want to be.
I wouldn’t have my life any other way—except to live by the ocean. Luckily, that desire is something I can actually aim for, and will someday achieve.
Now, I’m off to work on that goal by finishing my best selling novel.
1 comment:
Nichole,
Isn't it nice to have a place where you feel loved and safe? I wish everyone had that, and I know you do, too.
And for your sake, I'm sorry it's not near the ocean ... but for me, I'm glad you're here, in the good ol' mountains of Utah! :)
You're a great friend and I'd never have met you if you lived near the ocean.
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