The Beach
When I’m in a room, I’m black; I’m white. The room itself is black and white. At work, at home, at a bar; it's all black and white. Everything is monochrome. Sure, there is color, but it's all the same. I feel immediate.
But when I’m at the beach, I’m grey.
The beach is the one place I can go where I feel infinite. I feel as much a part of me as I do the rest of everything around me. I’m the sand; I’m the surf; I’m the man fishing at the end of the pier. I’m everywhere and nowhere. It's a feeling of finality; the last frontier. The beach is the end of the map. It's the top of a mountain that’s been spread out.
There has never been a moment where I’ve felt confined on a beach. It's my release. When the pressures of life and society take a toll on your well-being or when your creativity is stifled or dead-ended, the beach can be a place of solace, the extra breath of air when you feel like you’re drowning.
Far too many times I’ve felt a trapped feeling. Whether that be from responsibilities and obligations or social pressures or personal life issues, medically, financially, personally, or emotionally oriented. We all have at some point or another. It's called ‘Life’. But it's how we endure it, that defines us.
For most, we have discovered our ‘releases’. Those may come in the form of a hobby or passion, a partner or a friend, an animal, or in my case, a location. On the day-to-day grind, I get by with my passions and hobbies. Running and photography are my go-to ‘releases’. These things allow me to remain sane at least until I have more time on my hands. When I do, I get to enjoy my true ‘release’—the beach.
And with the beach, comes surfing. There’s nothing in the world like surfing. The sensation of tension and relaxation occurring simultaneously becomes a state of mind. Suddenly, you are able to detach from time itself and simply float through space. Nothing matters. You feel infinite; you feel grey.
Year in and year out, I long for summer, I long to feel grey… I long for the beach.
(Originally written 21 July 2013)
