Happy Place.

 I think I have two happy places.

On my mother-in–law’s wall is a picture of a lonely beach.  On a sand dune is a girl sitting dressed in white with a hat that has a blue ribbon on it.  This picture draws me into my happy place -  a lonely beach.  The weather could be clear or a grey, it doesn’t matter.    It is a place where I am exposed to the elements.  But these elements will not harm me.  The wind is strong and free.   It whips sand at my ankles and as I paddle, the surf is cold but these just combine to make me feel alive.  I can smell the salt air and it fills my lungs to clean out all the stress as it transfuses my being.   An empty beach makes me want to run and dance and twirl and somersault.   I just walk and walk though, imagining those exuberant expressions of fulfillment.  The sky is open and the sea is bare.  Open to all possibilities.  And that is why I come to this lonely beach.  I can be open to all possibilities. 

The second happy place I retreat to is in the mountains.   Here I am happy enclosed in a forest.  There are strong tall trees about me and all is green, again alive but now over grown.  Here I can enjoy a view from a clearing and look down on the valley from which I have emerged.  In the mountains I can hide in the forest.  Here I can reach out and touch a flower, hug a tree, get close to a small insect before it sense my presence and flies away.   Here I can look up the trunk of those tall trees and watch leaves dance in the light of the canopy.  I can feel their strength.  I can touch the bark and connect myself to the Lord of creation as they reach up to praise Him.