Beachfront.
I can feel it. The water rushing over my toes, over my feet, my ankles and the lower part of my leg. The cold startles me, while my mind screams for joy. The smell of the salt in the air enters my nose, evoking memories of years gone by, days spent at the ocean, nights on the beach.
I feel the stress loosen its vice-like grip across my shoulders and I take a deep breath, and release. And like the waves now rushing away from me, I feel my soul rejoice as the tension leaves me.
There’s something magical about the ocean.
For me the pounding of the waves, with their ebb and flow, is the heartbeat of the world. The pebbles on the beach remind me of the planets of the universe, too numerous to count and infinite in their variety. Together, the smell, the sound and the touch of the ocean are the greatest medicine for my soul, allowing me to breathe both physically and emotionally.
Giving me a perspective that I find only at the beach, or in the mountains.
For years, I’ve practiced a meditation visualization involving the beach and the ocean. It began after reading a description of an beach in a book by one of my very favorite authors.
From his words, I began to craft my own vision of the beach, and to make it real in my mind by consistent practice of visualizing myself there, feeling what I would feel, smelling what I would smell and most of all, experiencing the joy and timeless perspective.
I call it “The Nowhere Place”.
For in my vision I kneel in the breakwater as the waves break over my legs. In front of me, there is only ocean, and either side of me, stretching out through eternity, is a beachfront, with waves breaking and retreating.
Behind me there is nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. There are no people present, no other lives, just the constant flow of the ocean, and my presence in this place where none can be.
Not even time.
For in the Nowhere Place there is only ‘Now’ and ‘Here’, which is how we get the word. As I enter the Nowhere Place, I can use the timelessness of the moment as a canvas on which to display my worries, my fears, and my thoughts.
I can use the lack of other people to examine my thoughts without fear of embarrassment or judgment. I use the enormity and eternal nature of this place to gain perspective when I am lost in the distraction of the moment.
For when I am just now and here, I too am eternal in my perspective.
As time fades away, and as the opinions of others crumble, I am able to find my true nature, and listen to the heartbeat of my soul, finding the authentic pathways forwards so that I may resonate a true note within the orchestral majesty of humanity and the universe in which it plays.
As I experience the unification of now as eternity, I realize that I am at one with all and the universe.
And I can think, feel, act and love accordingly.
While I cannot invite you into my Nowhere Place, may I today extend an invitation to you, and ask you to begin to build your own place within your soul where you can find the peace and tranquility of the truth of you, and find healing, understanding, and a wellspring of joy and contentment.
And may you find peace.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings