A sunny, breezy time at the Jersey shore town of Belmar beckoned beguilingly. My friends Ondreah and Lisa and I piled into Lisa’s SUV and headed North for a day-cation. The car was packed with coolers, towels, sunscreen, and snacks. As we approached the beach, I could feel my stress melting away like a drippy ice cream cone. My day to day life is filled with client appointments, writing, editing, planning, promoting and facilitating workshops,  as well as fitness, friend and family time. Don’t get me wrong, I love the various aspects of my existence. I call it full and rich and juicy. Sometimes I need to put a bookmark in my activities and just veg. That’s what yesterday was about. I would normally drive since my car gets great gas mileage, but Lisa agreed to get behind the wheel. We set intention for an easy trip, and an Uncle Jimmy parking spot (my mother’s brother Jim always found the perfect spot and I use the mojo and share it with friends) on what we imagined would be tourist filled busy streets. We zipped on the roads and arrived in a little more than an hour on a Saturday afternoon. We circled the block, put in our parking request and voila! one showed up across the street from the sandy stretch. Toting our gear, we traversed the hot surface, feeling the pull of the water.

Settling down, we cast another wish out for a beach umbrella. We attempted to reach the office from which we could place an order, but were not able to get through. Somehow we sensed that one would show up for us. About 30 minutes after we arrived, a family a few yards down the beach were packing up to take their leave. I trekked over to them and asked if they had brought the blue and white striped umbrella from home or rented it. They told me it was the latter, so I asked if we could pay them to use it and return it when we left. This mother and her two daughters gladly handed it over and helped me tote it over and set it up. We agreed to take it back to the location by 5 pm. Hunkered down in its shade, we were grateful that the sun’s penetrating rays didn’t scorch our skin.

In between conversation with my friends, I leaned back, feeling the breeze tumble my curls, and the sun warm me. A few weeks earlier, I was on two different beaches in Ireland and my thoughts returned there. The ocean that separates these two lands was calm on both sides. I wish more people would come to realize that we are all connected and live on the same planet. What impacts each of us, impacts all of us.

The wind and water provided the healing balm that this beach bunny needed.