Gift From The Sea

It’s time for a road trip to the beach! There is no better time to travel to the coast then in the fall. The temps are dropping and the beach is less-crowded. Of course, you’ll find me on the beach any chance I get during the summer. But going in the fall holds a special place in my heart.

Before you go, grab a copy of my favorite beach book that should really be in your library. Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift From the Sea might appear a bit dated, but trust me when I say it’s still quite relevant. This is a genuine, heartfelt and thoughtful little book that really will never become dated or obsolete even though it was published in 1955 in what some may call a simpler time.

“I need the sea because it teaches me.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares a personal and spiritual philosophical exploration that will resonate, leaving you feeling alive and cleansed. With the combination of sun, sea and sand, you’ll be reminded of the importance of just being you.

“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.”

“When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom”

“Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves.”

“I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before.”

“Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day- like writing a poem or saying a prayer.”

“I am very fond of the oyster shell. It is humble and awkward and ugly. It is slate-colored and unsymmetrical. Its form is not primarily beautiful but functional. I make fun of its knobbiness.

Sometimes I resent its burdens and excrescences. But its tireless adaptability and tenacity draw my astonished admiration and sometimes even my tears.

And it is comfortable in its familiarity, its homeliness, like old garden gloves when have molded themselves perfectly to the shape of the hand. I do not like to put it down. I will not want to leave it.”