Kathryn Hodgson is a guest contributor for The Scuba News. Please see The Scuba News for articles regarding her time as a scuba diving instructor in Egypt and Great White shark wildlife guide in South Africa.
Tag Archives: beach life
Just keep walking
Throughout daily life there is one simple habit that has kept me on an even keel; walking.
I have always referred to my daily walk as my Sanity Walk and refuse to miss a single dose of it. It doesn’t matter where I am walking, what has happened in the day and whether it is pouring with rain or bright sunshine. It can be morning, noon or night, I don’t care. It is my moment to stomp, march, skip, meander and wander along paths of every kind and in every country I visit. No matter how grumpy or miserable I may feel beforehand, my Sanity Walk uplifts and inspires me. Some of the greatest decisions I have made in my life have occurred during my walks. Stepping one foot in front of the other has seen me through devastating times and serious injury when it was all I could do to keep walking whilst tears filled my eyes and threatened to trip me up.
In honour of my humble, yet irresistible, potters I am sharing some of my favourite walking moments from the years gone by, just as I step out of the door to go on my next adventure.
Keep treading those paths and life will continue to unfold.
Daily Walking
SuperHero Pants
It would appear that I have nothing to say right now, try as I might to find some words of use to this world. Words that will make someone laugh, make someone smile, feel loved and inspired. My inspiration and motivation have apparently packed their bags, taken hold of each others’ hands and left me alone with my cup of steaming tea. They have decided it is vacation time and have sauntered off to the nearest cafe before they catch the train called Holiday.
For the past few days my head has been scanning wildly for these much loved friends of mine as I have fought feeling restless, ill at ease and unmotivated. My shoulders have tightened in their absence. I have leg ache from trying to find them as I ran daily along the beach, shouting their names to the wind. I tried dancing on the disused railway track with my Ipod in order to bring them back but it didn’t help. I have mourned their loss and hoped they will come back to me soon with tales of their adventures. We had such a beautiful week together prior to the last few days. Every day was full of passion, new experiences, possibilities, love and laughter. Now I am left with an overcast sky framing the mountains around me and an inability to write.
As I searched on WordPress this morning for some inspiration to bring me back to my senses I came upon this post ‘Not a Lot to Say’ by Forest Four The Trees. It had been reblogged on one of my favourites blogs The Live Simply Community. It was just meant to be read by me today. It made me laugh out loud at myself as I choked on my cup of tea. It made me step back and drop my shoulders as I reminded myself to stop putting so much pressure on me. It is okay not to feel inspirational, motivated and full of fire this week.
It is perfectly acceptable if I just take off my SuperHero Pants, toss them aside and forget about being that part of me. In fact I may even put my pants on my head for a moment
It is okay to sit on my bottom, eat cake and do sweet nothing until I feel ready to move forwards. I am not achieving much and I am probably inspiring no-one but let it be. Time will bring back my friends Inspiration and Motivation when they have enjoyed their holiday and decided to come home to the aftersun lotion.
In the meantime, I will spend my lull giving thanks for ten wonderful moments that have happened this week. Moments that simply made me smile and breathe out contentedly.
They have more than made up for the lack of SuperHero pants
- The storms in Cape Town washed up a Portugese Man O War jellyfish onto the beach. I didn’t know they were such a bright azure blue. Stunning
- I have run 25Km this week so far and loved every step across the golden sands
- I am blessed with new friendships this year that bring me peace, happiness and creativity
- I saw two humpback whales breach simultaneously as I worked on the ocean waves. I never knew whales could sigh until I listened closely
- I sat on my patio and listened to the trees rustling in the breeze. I fell asleep to their music
- I shared good food and wine with dear friends and we created new possibilities for future work
- I got stuck inside my duvet cover as I tried to make my bed late one night. I laughed a lot at my duvet jellyfish creation
- I realised just how much someone cares about me and felt humbled by their unconditional love
- I experienced the magic that is chocolate and marshmallow cake at my favourite cafe
- I spoke to every member of my immediate family. I am so lucky we are all well, safe and happy
Sand In My Smile
The sand felt heavy under my toes this morning, as I took my morning walk along the beach. Heavy, cool and damp from the rains overnight. The beach is my haven and I find it fascinating for the daily routines of people and nature that can be observed if one looks closely.
There are the elderly ladies that take their early morning swim at the southern end of the beach. I watch as they gingerly dip their wrinkled toes in the water and wade out beyond the small waves, their hair as white as clouds and fragile arms held out for balance. There was an elderly couple today and I could see how the years had moulded them into one. The gentleman didn’t so much as let go of his lady once whilst they stumbled through the larger waves. Such is a love that lasts a lifetime. I admired their courage (these waters are cold), their love and sense of togetherness.
There are the dog walkers with woofs of all shapes and sizes. I find myself veering towards them if I like the look of their dog – heaven only knows if they think I am stalking them or have some weird obsession and can’t walk in a straight line. I adore the companionship of dogs and was lucky enough to meet a sparky and proud Irish Terrier today. He was a corker; all wiry copper blonde hair, wet gum drop nose and ears pricked and ready for action. His name…Fluff. I bumped into the owner of this dog on my return home and he proudly presented me with his wife and the words “I’ve brought my other Irish Terrier along this time”. How we laughed, even his wife.
There is the man with the ball. The ruby red ball and the ever present smile on his face. I see him every day on his own with his cherished ball. He spends hours playing with this shiny bouncing ball; kicking it round, tossing it in the air and he always looks so content. I wonder what brought him to this? He even takes his ball for a swim and can often be seen swimming with the ball by his side. Evidently it is an excellent swimming companion and always handy for a float.
I have made it my mission to say good morning to everyone I pass on the beach and wish them well for the day. I know how much it brightens my day when people do this for me. It was met with a mixed response and today I counted at least 5 people that looked at me as if I were insane and promptly moved on without a word or hint of recognition. Thankfully Irish Terrier Man and his jovial nature more than made up for them. And these are just the people….
Two giant jellyfish had been washed up with the tide; plump as wood pigeons, glistening in the sun like amethyst jewels and nestled on the sand. One of them was being nibbled by snails with shells shaped like ice-cream cones and I watched other snails making their way slowly across the sand to join the feast. These snails were long-distance travellers indeed…I picked up all the snails I could find and put them on their jellyfish and watched them nibbling away contentedly. I wonder if they knew I had helped them.
I bumped into Prince again today, sitting in the sunshine making his bead animals. It makes me sad that he is instantly recognisable for the slippers on his feet and the tattered t-shirt he wears every day. We got to chatting on the bright red bench facing the ocean and he gave me a gift. He had made me a photograph holder from beads and wire, inscribed with my name and the shape of a shark. He told me how he was going to throw the beads and wire away last time we met, as he felt they were worthless, but after I had told him he couldn’t waste such beautiful beads he kept them and made this gift. His thought and kindness made my day and he won’t accept any payment or charity from me. We have agreed a commission for someone very dear to me but even then he haggled the price down. I listened as he talked of his dreams, how he isn’t sure what to do with his life and I just wished I could do more for him. We shared funny stories and jokes and laughed out loud at the stares of others passing by.
But I can’t help wondering, is my listening ear really enough? Is it enough to just smile, listen and offer words of encouragement to everyone in the hope that it will change their world just for a moment? I’d like to think it is and I leave you with this.
bourbontea 