Seven Women by the Sea

I've just returned from a getaway in Indian Shores, Florida, thirty minutes south of Tampa on the gulf coast, where seven friends, all women, decide to rent a condo together for the week.

 From our fifth floor balcony, we watch the green foamy waves of the sea roll in. The weather is not as warm as we had anticipated, but no one seems to mind.  We bundle up in fleece jackets and brave the near gale force winds to walk along the empty beach.  We stop to inspect delicate sea shells and washed up sea “treasures” for signs of life. We are carried almost effortlessly by the wind at our backs. 

However, on our return trip, as we press into the wind, the salty tang of the sea hits our nostrils and slaps against our face and the sheer force of the wind requires almost every ounce of strength we have to move forward. We are like explorers not knowing what we’ll find, but eager to take a chance at discovering something new.

And we do.

We discover that we, as women, no matter our backgrounds or beliefs, share a common bond.  We are each unique yet not as different as one might think.  And when we come together in numbers something powerful begins to happen.

Each morning upon arising we sit in silence, listening to the roar of the ocean as the sun’s light creeps into the room, and later in the day we gather again to marvel at the splash of pink and orange across the evening sky as the sun makes its final dip behind the sparkling watery horizon.  

We have no daily planners, no meals to prepare, no pets to feed, no children or husbands to tend to, just the seven of us with the sand beneath our feet, the magnificent ocean and endless sky. And as we listen to the sounds of the sea, the birds and the wind, it takes us somewhere magical deep down inside.  A place we don’t often go.

Listening to our body is not something we are taught to do.  Mostly, we are taught to ignore it.  Listening to the body doesn’t mean we give over to its cravings, but to the softer voice further down behind the cravings that tells us what we truly need which is usually more rest, time for our self,  exercise, silence, music, creative expression . . .  you know the voice, the one that’s drowned out by all the chatter of life.

And when we begin to listen here too, so much comes spilling out.  We laugh, we cry, we hug.  Our women friends become like the strong wind at our back that carries us effortlessly along. And we discover we are stronger than we ever knew because we see it in each other’s eyes and remember that "it’s here in me too".