Inspiration

Inspiration always strikes me by the sea. The crashing waves, the birds diving and darting all around, the fellow sojourners there for a day, all of us traveling somewhere, walking our own unique story out in its own distinct season.

Every time I’m by the sea, I’m drawn to the shore. Not the water. Not the sand. But the place where they meet. I wander for what feels like miles alternating my gaze between the horizon and the sand in front of me. Picking seashells and feeling their unique texture as I run my fingers over their edges. Each time, I find a different theme with my shells. I’m drawn to something specific, a characteristic they all share. Today it was rocks and stone. They’ve drifted in from, well where? What has their journey looked like to land on this shore? Regardless, now they’re here. And I am mesmerized by them. They’re different colors but they’re all flat. Sanded down. Smooth. Surely when they began they had rough edges, maybe more detail, surely they had a different, more grainy texture. But today, they are flat and smooth. Their colors have run together. They are different than they were when they began their journey. And perhaps that’s what draws me to them most. Because I am different.