Marine Moments

The Beach Today

When I come across something unexpected it stops me in my tracks: It stimulates fresh thoughts and ideas. Did this leaf, when fluttering from the branches of the tree ever expect to be washed up on a beach and lie in the sand and out-going tide? We all have ideas about what should be where; leaves should be on trees, and shells should be on the beach. We also all have ideas about where we should be and what we should be doing.

Are we where we expect to be or do we currently feel like a leaf on a beach?

Do we flow where the tides wash us, or do we spend our energy swimming against the waves?

Did you know?

Many strange things have been washed up on beaches. Back in 2010, a USA Lockheed P38 Lightning fighter aircraft appeared on the beaches of the Welsh Coast. Named the Maid of Harlech, the fighter plane crashed into the Welsh sea during a training exercise in 1942. Until 2010, it was buried beneath the waves, but the changing beachfront and seabed revealed the plane on the shore of the Gwynedd coast.

On the theme of leaves and trees, in 2010 a piece of driftwood washed up on the shore of La Push, a small coastal town on the northwest USA. Now, I know what you’re thinking: a piece of driftwood, what’s strange or weird about that? Well, the piece of driftwood in question just so happened to be a gigantic tree that was at least 10-foot-wide and a couple of hundred feet tall!

And finally, a bizarre example of strange things being washed ashore occurred in 2016 when 11 miles of the Western Siberian coast, off the Gulf of Ob was covered in huge snowballs. It all seems very nonsensical that snowballs would just wash up on the beach from the sea. However, it occurred due to small pieces of ice forming in the water before being rolled together into big round balls by both the wind and waves.

Three examples of things that are ‘odd’ because they are where we expect them; planes should be in the sky, trees should be int he first where they fall and snowballs should thrown by naughty boys in playgrounds!

In contrast a few leaves along the shoreline may seems very unremarkable, but they represent the idea of feeling out of place, or out of your ‘comfort zone’.

Reflective Moment

Our comfort zone is a psychological state in which we stay where everything is familiar and feels safe. Moving beyond this state can cause anxiety and stress, however the riches for embarking on new adventures are endless with opportunities and experiences we could not imagine from our safe zone. Look again at the leaf – it is brave and bold, fearless and accepting of where the winds and tides take it.

According to Psychology Today, uncertainty equals danger which makes us afraid. So even when we are bored or unhappy with our comfort zone, we tend to be held fixed in place by fear of the unknown. So, although we may feel to be ‘out of place’ and lost, we may be exactly where we need to be to grow- it just feels scary. Do we need to retrace our steps and swim back to where we were before, or do we need to let go, relax and see where the tide washes us?

The Voice of the Sea

The late autumn, early winter sea shows no mercy, pummelling and drumming everything in its path, tumbling, rinsing and pushing. It throws its toys high up the beach to lie stranded until the sea returns to play once more – ghostly white Cuttle fish, tangles of seaweed dragged from its deep sea bed, leaves, feathers, twigs, and empty shells.

The sound of its drumming beats deep within the soul and calls to all of us. Listen to the rhythmical roar, let it pummel and push us to new places, grand adventures and brave plans – after all, whatever happens the waves will still break on the beach and when the tide comes back in, it will fetch us home.