I am not really a beach goer. Not a fan of beaches really. At least I am not a fan of beaches in the way I think most people think of beaches. When people think of going to the beach for a nice relaxing trip or vacation. Sitting on the beach just lying there soaking in the sun.

I think that part of this is just a function of my personality. For me relaxation does not really equal fun. I like action and activity in my fun. I am at least a Type 1 fun and often a Type 2 kind of fun person. Fun for me can even include a little bit of pain. If I went to a beach to relax I would spend the whole time thinking “I could be DOING something else”. Relaxation is something I actually have to be more conscious of and plan. Relaxing and stopping the doing is a force of will for me often.

I’m not a beach person

And my mindset is often that the beach is for relaxation. I am sure there are a lot of surfers, swimmers, and other water sports enthusiasts that would whole heartily disagree with me. But since I don’t share any of those pursuits my mindset is not in that frame of mind.

When I enjoy beaches it is when I can be in a mindset of exploration. I like beaches when It isn’t hot out and I’m not thinking that I need to get in that water because I am melting here. If I can walk along the sandy shore and have a sense of exploration. That is what I like. Not a beach with boardwalks and lines of beach chairs and crowded with partiers.

I enjoy exploration and solitude

If a beach can give me a sense of solitude and a connection to nature then that is what I am about. A lot of my favorite beach spots are probably places many people wouldn’t even consider beaches. Most of them are on lakes, not oceans. The ocean beaches I like are in cooler climates like Maine. And might be covered in rocks, not sand, like Little Hunters Beach in Acadia National Park.

Beaches can have a way of really illuminating time. Much of a peach is grounded in impermanence. The water will quickly wash away anything we create in the sand. Time quickly passes by anything we can make in the human scale. But, at the locations I really like you can see what can last the test of time. The rock and stone that is able to withstand the punishing the waves.

The shape of water

All within one landscape we can see so much. The part of the scene that quickly changes and is reshaped by the water over the sand. The motion of the water as it courses in and out from the body of the lake or ocean up to the shoreline and back. The rocks that may be interspersed among the softer side of the landscape. They have been revealed by the water. The rocks will last for a long time but given enough time they too may recede from existence.

Take heart in your strengths. Enjoy the fluidity of what is impermanent. It is never too late to start and reshape. The long term is the goal.

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