let's go fly a kite...
We only live about an hour and a half from the Pacific Ocean, and yet it had been well over a year (perhaps almost two!) since we'd been to the coast. Inexcusable, I realize, especially for any of you who are not from a coastal state and would relish such easy access. Yesterday, however, we finally made the scenic drive over to enjoy lunch at the Grateful Bread bakery in Pacific City and some time on the beach. The ocean was quite socked in with fog and it was, to put it mildly, blustery -- welcome to the Oregon Coast -- but the kid romped all over the sand, digging holes and building a castle. We remembered to bring the rainbow-striped kite we'd purchased on a previous visit, and to my joy, I was able to get it up in the air! (Yes, the gale-force winds were a significant contributing factor, but I was impressed with myself nonetheless.)
It has been a while since I felt as at peace as I did watching that kite dart and soar, following its dips to the ground and then giving it a tug to watch it rise again. The thing about kite flying is that when you're holding the end of the string, you really can't do anything else. A quick glance at the ocean, perhaps, but that's about it before the kite starts to dip toward Earth. (I tried to take a picture at one point... it didn't go well.) I was tethered, literally and figuratively. I was forced to simply relax and watch the rainbow-colored diamond soaring up in the gray and (slightly) blue sky.
Life throws so many things at us. It is so easy to feel like we're living in a whirlpool -- or, at least, it is for me. I know I'd spent the past several days feeling more like a flock of disorganized seagulls were careening around in my head than a graceful kite on a breeze. My foray into kite-flying reminded me of how important it is to slow down... to focus... to realize that not everything can be done simultaneously and to be OKAY WITH THAT. Yes, it will take a while to read this book, or make this meal, or write this lesson, or run this route... but with focus and commitment -- and a good tether to the (figurative) sky -- I will make it through. I need to feel tethered. I need to remember that in reality, I am tethered. And that's a good thing!
It has been a while since I felt as at peace as I did watching that kite dart and soar, following its dips to the ground and then giving it a tug to watch it rise again. The thing about kite flying is that when you're holding the end of the string, you really can't do anything else. A quick glance at the ocean, perhaps, but that's about it before the kite starts to dip toward Earth. (I tried to take a picture at one point... it didn't go well.) I was tethered, literally and figuratively. I was forced to simply relax and watch the rainbow-colored diamond soaring up in the gray and (slightly) blue sky.
Life throws so many things at us. It is so easy to feel like we're living in a whirlpool -- or, at least, it is for me. I know I'd spent the past several days feeling more like a flock of disorganized seagulls were careening around in my head than a graceful kite on a breeze. My foray into kite-flying reminded me of how important it is to slow down... to focus... to realize that not everything can be done simultaneously and to be OKAY WITH THAT. Yes, it will take a while to read this book, or make this meal, or write this lesson, or run this route... but with focus and commitment -- and a good tether to the (figurative) sky -- I will make it through. I need to feel tethered. I need to remember that in reality, I am tethered. And that's a good thing!
That is inexcusable. You need to hit the beach more often! The beach is the best medicine. :-)
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