I've always been drawn to the beach. It is where I go when I need to slow down, calm down or simply to gather my thoughts. But at no time is the beach more beautiful than immediately after a newly fallen snow, with a calm and tranquility like nowhere else.
Early Morning Sunrise :: Why waking early is the greatest gift there is
Have you ever seen anything so beautiful that it just took your breath away? I'm an early riser naturally but was awakened even earlier when my youngest crawled in to snuggle with me long before it was light out. Unable to fall back asleep I made a cup of coffee and went into the living room to admire the tree and all of Santa's hard work. My house sits atop a big hill and I have the most amazing views of the sun as it rises. This morning a bright orange horizontal flare shone brightly against the black sky. I tossed on a dress and some flip flops, poured my coffee into a travel cup and headed out down to the water where I was witness to perhaps the most gorgeous sunrise I have ever seen. It was the first time, I think, my breath has ever been taken away.
I'm not a religious person but I suppose, as I get older, I do get more spiritual. While I've always been one to slow down, stop and smell the roses - more by curiosity and from an artist's eye than any other reason, I suppose. I've never been one to take the beauty that surrounds us for granted, but I do think I have come to appreciate it more as I've gotten older. Some say that sun rises and sun sets are religious experiences. To see the sun slowly rise behind Trinity Episcopal Church was as close to a religious experience I have ever come to. (Pictured above) Each day, they say, is a gift and yesterday I was witness to this amazing gift. It's one thing to watch the sun rise from inside, it's another thing altogether to see it up close and personal. For many this is not feasible, at least on a regular basis. But I urge you all to make an effort to go watch the sun rise from time to time.
I am fortunate enough that my kids all sleep in a bit on Christmas morning and I was able to get out for about a half hour or so. That half hour completely shaped my day. As I stood on beach and stared into the bright citrus sky as the sky started its ascent above the water off in the horizon I became mesmerized by the beauty and brightness in front of me. How this happens every single day seemed absolutely miraculous. I stood, at that moment, on that particularly warm day in awe of all around me and completely grateful. Christmas is always bittersweet. I am reminded of what I have, what I don't have and what I had and lost. As any divorced parent it's easy to get lost in the sadness that the day can bring instead of reveling in the joy and happiness no matter how short it is. As the children grow the day loses a bit of the magic it once had. I wish I could bottle it up and make it last forever. But I can't. Our Christmas isn't as it was, for we, like so many, are a household divided - I refuse to say broken for broken we are not. We are just different from what we used to be.
Instead of feeling sad that I would only have a few short hours to enjoy my children, I realized as the sun slowly rose, that those few precious hours were as much as a gift as the day dawning before me. From bright to pastel the hues on the horizon turned as the sun made her way up in the sky. And when all around me was bright and illuminated I headed home to my children and all the beautifully wrapped packages beneath the tree.
Weather permitting, I think this is how I would like to begin my New Year...
I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions but I do believe in creating new goals for myself and I do vow to use my camera more and my phone less.... The quality, while good, cannot compare to a camera. I hope you enjoy the beauty and the magic of my Christmas Morning Sunrise despite this and that you too are inspired to get up early and watch the start of a brand new day while most are still fast asleep.
Monday Inspiration:: What happens when you don't get what you want?
Everything seems to be moving at warp speed these days. With so many moving parts it's a wonder that we can sit still at all. Sometimes wanting something isn't enough. Sometimes working hard for it isn't either. Sometimes you need to sit back and leave it up to fate. Sometimes it's best to lift the oar and not paddle against the tide. I believe this firmly. Let it be.
Read moreRisk, or Regret?
It's one of the hardest things we can ask ourselves - It's one of the hardest decisions we will ever have to make, and it never truly gets easier, especially for those who regularly need to be pushed to the edges of our comfort zones. There are clearly the risk-takers and the non-risk takers, the gamblers and the non-gamblers. Which type are you?
I tend to be the non-risk taker. I'm the person, by nature, who plays it safe. A few years ago, after many years of playing it safe, I decided to take the biggest risk of my life. And so, without knowing what was in store for my future (do we ever really truly know what the future holds anyhow?) I decided that it was time for me to take that leap of faith. I had no idea if I'd have a soft, smooth landing or if I'd crash and burn, but I had come to a point in my life that I knew I needed a change. I needed more than a change; I needed a way out, and the only way to do so was to jump, blindly. When I did, I landed with both feet firmly planted on the ground and from that point on I never looked back, only forward. I learned something then; I learned the greatest lesson of my life. You'll never regret a risk. You'll never regret that one chance, that one opportunity. But you will come to regret those opportunities that have passed you by.
Until just a few years ago, I turned down so many amazing opportunities. This non-chance taker and non-gambler thought it was safer to live within my own self-imposed comfort zone, and it wasn't until I pushed myself beyond that I realized how much out there was at my fingertip, and just how much opportunity there was if I wanted it. Repetition is a bore. Stagnancy is deadly. Fear is fatal.
Fear is my worst enemy. It has caused me to back away from so much. But on that fateful day, several years ago, when I decided to throw caution to the wind and take the biggest gamble of my life there was no looking back. Since then I've known that the greatest regrets in life come from the opportunities not seized. Even those chances taken that haven't come to fruition or that have crashed and burned were opportunities - opportunities to live, and grow and learn. They say that the greatest lessons are those that are learned from mistakes and I will concur. From those mistakes and lessons come new opportunities and we should seize those moments with everything we've got. There's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and as many times as I've put the proverbial pen to paper, I've lifted it up, off the page, set it down and struggled to lift it up again.I saw this Risk or Regret image on Pinterest the other day which forced me to stop and think for a while. When I look back, I it's not the mistakes I've made that have upset me, but the mistakes that weren't made. Twenty years from now, forty years from now, I want to look back and see a colorfully lived life filled with oceans and colorful sunsets dotted with colorful people, artwork and architecture. I'd like to see some of my dreams come true and that won't happen without taking a chance, without risk. I'd like to do this for myself and for my children so that they too will learn to embrace the risk because I truly believe that with risk comes reward.