Salt Air is Clarity

Since before I can remember the summer months have always provided a sense of relief. I am fortunate and as a child, I spent my summers in a small town by the ocean. I can remember sitting on the dock with my feet in the bay all alone, listening to children play, and families gather across the lagoon. Despite, being alone I remember wishing this feeling would follow me back home.

Now years later I still resort back to this small town. Nothing about myself is the same however I still feel at ease breathing in the ocean air. This year I found myself doing things I had done as a child. I built sandcastles and appreciated low tide because now I have a child. I found myself enjoying fireworks on the Fourth of July not because I was watching them but because I was watching the reactions of my daughter as she waited for pink sparks to light up the sky.

Later that night everyone had gone to bed, and I stared at the ceiling listening to the stray fireworks. As I listened I placed my hands on my stomach and heard myself say “I have to trust being patient.” I thought about how strange it is to want something, how you become hyper-aware of your want and often feel surrounded by others who have it. I thought how strange it is to have wanted something and then randomly without realizing it, you have it, yet it came to you in the most unexpected way. I thought perhaps it is while you are waiting that you truly grow. Because in all honesty everything I have ever wanted has been worth waiting for and has arrived. So with that I rolled over and thanked the salt air for such clarity.