A Time to Think

If you ever spend time by the sea do take some time to think. Walking on the seashore is one of lives great privileges. I find an early morning walk with the dog, or a sunset stroll with the family the two occasions when I most value being beside the sea.

During the day the beach is fun, you can dig in the sand, examine rock pools, clamber on rocks, swim in the sea. You can sunbathe, picnic, sail or canoe, you can write your name in the sand, make patterns with seashells and sea weed. All great fun, but always done to the background of others doing the same.

The quiet, peaceful seaside moments are the ones to be found when others are not there. You are suddenly aware of the space, of the huge land- and water-scapes, of the roar of the waves as they rush towards and away from the shore, or crash on rocks and posts.

You notice an abundance of seabirds, not just the gulls, but the waders and divers who now have time to eat on the empty beach.

I particularly love looking down at the shore as the sea withdraws, discovering the tiny details of the flotsam and jetsam left behind.

There are two things I recommend you take with you next time you go to the beach. A camera and your phone! I take so many photographs in Brittany of the sea and the shoreline, and having the photographs to look at whilst rushing about in London is such a tonic. Even more rewarding are the short videos I have on my phone, taken during my walks with the dog. I switch them on, close my eyes and I return to those early mornings on the beach listening to the sea, the gulls and the wind.

I hope that you get a chance to spend some time at the seaside this year; take some time to go when it’s quiet and uncrowded and breath in the pure air, listen, look and think.

Thanks for reading,