Gifts of the Sea...

Today I leave this Paradise

But the Gifts of the Sea shall remain

All of my days, filling me, fueling me and freeing me

in ways I can express and a thousand ways I cannot.

Being here,

Surrendering to the tides,

Allowing them to ebb and flow,

Taking what they must graciously gives me what I don't even know I need.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's 1955 book:  Gifts from the Sea is a treasured classic, proving wisdom is timeless and common experiences are shared generation after generation.  When I first read these words 20 years ago at age 24:  Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves, I appreciated how she poetically wrote how she had arrived at this knowing but had no idea what this meant to me.  The beauty of reading is we drink in the words so they become a part of us and bring us into life revelations that show us more, deepening our understanding of our Self and this grand adventure.  AWEsome.

For me, this trip was much anticipated because of the excitement of Macy and Mark's wedding and being with a group of people I absolutely adore and love. But I had no idea how simply being here in paradise with the winds blowing through me, the waters still and wild, the sun intensely present, the sand powdery and muddy beneath my feet would graciously give me just what I needed.   

This is the power of the direct experiences of life.  We dare to show up and gifts spring forward in ways that shock the hell out of us.  Each of us here as part of this group will extract distinctly different experiences and energies - this is the inner solitude even when we are gathered with the masses.  All will be fed in ways we can express and ways we simply cannot as the language of the soul is in a knowing silence.

The invitation for me and for all of you is to continue to find the true essence of my Self through wherever we find our Self in life, here and now.  Letting in the gifts from the sea of experiences that come in the moments of our lives, we become adventurers of life never ceasing to explore.  This wonderment companions me even as I leave this paradise and other places I travel throughout my days, it becomes part of me so I can take it with me.

The goodness of life is found in drinking from the well within, the true essence of Self.  Discover this space and find your way back there again and again and again...