Writing this the night before heading southward with my friends Barb and Glenn to Hilton Head, SC for a week of fun in the sun. It is the first long vacation I have had in more than a decade. They invited me to take the time to veg and just BE. That in and of itself is restorative and will help me return refreshed. There will be some writing that will emerge and I know I will be inspired to create by being around the ocean. Even as I am now 12 hours away from our final destination, I can smell the salt air and feel the breeze and melting sun across my skin. I can visualize digging my toes in the sand, swimming, practicing yoga on the beach and gazing up at the clear, cloud scattered sky by day and star sparkles at night.

In order to be ready to travel, I needed to complete tasks that included writing and submitting articles for the various venues that  publish my work. Laundry, packing, grocery shopping, plant watering, cleaning my house so that I can come home to some semblance of order, which has become important lately.

Then it occurred to me that even more important is the to-do list that is more about inner order. Taking a deep breath and recalling what matters.

Enjoy every moment as it arises like the ocean waves in which I will be immersed by Sunday.

Sing with the seagulls that will likely serenade us.

Count my blessings, like the infinite grains of sand.

Immerse in love as deep as the fathomless sea.

Play joyfully with the light as it beams down from the heavens.

Celebrate the magnificence of this life as it unfolds.