Salutations from The Beach

I finally made it here, to the land of palm trees and turquoise waters. I managed to forget my allergy pills and my phone charger, but it didn't matter; I was here at last.

Jupiter Inlet

The first day I was here I was so excited, I tried to do too many things at once and got too much sun. The next day was mostly about recovering from aforementioned overdoing.

Not having a schedule or anyone to be responsible for was a bit disorienting at first. I missed Big Brother, the kids, the animals. Now, halfway through the week, I have hit my stride. I spent a wonderful morning at Juno Beach yesterday, reading Journeys Under the Moon: Writing and the Hero's Quest. With no distractions and no time limits I was able to think through some of the concepts in the book in relation to my novel in progress, which sparked some ideas about how to make my story better.

The community garden at El Sol

Last night I spent time with Big Brother's cousins. They are such a nice family, and so open and welcoming to me, even after so many years of not having much contact. Playing with my little neices made me really miss the princesses and baby brother. I am going to start saving up to bring them here next summer, I would love to be able to share this with them.

The beach at Jupiter Inlet

Although I haven't been here long, and will be going home soon, I feel all the disjointed peices of myself coming back together. I am finding a new equilibrium here that got lost along the way. As I sit here on the lanai typing this, I am listening to the birds chirping and watching the sun come out over the palm trees, and it occurrs to me that I am more relaxed and at peace than I can remember being in years.

I know these positive changes are because of having time and space to spend on myself, not necessarily where I am spending it, but I feel increasingly certain that whatever my next chapter in life holds, it will be written here. I had been secretly afraid that maybe my plans to buy a home here had been based more on escapism than I wanted to believe. I worried that actually being here would burst the bubble. Instead, being here has put that fear to rest. There is just something about being able to walk on the beach or swim in the waves that I find soothing to the soul and I know I want more of that in my life. Exactly how or when I will be able to make that happen remains to be seen, I have accepted that it probably won't be this year after all. But this trip has helped reaffirm my goals, and that feels good.

Juno Beach

I will end this post by sending you greetings and good vibes from the beach, a Slow Lane I am happy to be in.