Entry #2 - Beach and City, Therapist and Friend

I was that girl that always needed to go to the beach once every year. I noticed a pattern that the worst years in my life were often those that left me beach deprived. Whether this was coincidence or not, will never be known for certain. I, however, believe fully that it is correlation, not coincidence.

I find solitude at the beach that could never be achieved anywhere else. As you stand there on the shoreline and the waves came in to graze your toes like a shake of the hand, it tickles your soles as it retrieves the sand beneath your feet. Standing there, looking out to the ocean it provided a purging of life’s troubles. Seeing the magnitude of the ocean I recognized that my troubles could never claim victory in a fighting match over the waves on the shore. The ocean's quantity and quality was so far beyond my troubles it was unfathomable, and most of them even came along with such a grace my troubles could never combat.

That is the place I longed to go to, anytime I felt grief or pain or loneliness. But as my city days lie before me, it is different. Although I know I would never turn down the peace and solitude of the ocean, there is yet comfort in the city.

See, the difference between the beach and the city are like the differences between a therapist and a friend. The ocean offers you a peace to surpass your circumstances, the city offers opportunities to reach beyond your circumstances.

Although the beach is not replaced by the city my dependence upon it has been diminished.
I love the beach. The beach is my therapist.
But now I love the city. The city is my best friend.