Winning by the Sea

I need the sea because it teaches me.  

Pablo Neruda

A week of rest and slowing down by the ocean.

Who could ask for more? Reading In Praise of Slow by Carl Honoré, stopping by local coffee shops, having a nap in the afternoon, walking with an umbrella. Seeing large-lensed cameras in front of Munro’s books, timed beautifully with 82 year old Alice Munro named as the first female Canadian Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Eating chocolates in the middle of the day and watching gigantic gulls swooping down on unsuspecting tourists. Admiring rubber boots in a variety of fashionable colours and patterns.

Meeting this 91 year old half-marathoner (and his girlfriend!). Ahh, this is what builds holiday memories.

 

26 Characters and so many Words

Each time I think I will stop writing, I feel an incredible sadness. For if I stop, how will all these thoughts and ideas be released to the world. Hence, I continue. Some days it is a bit of a struggle, some days so many words float around in my brain, I feel like I can barely stop. 

Notebooks and journals abound, in trunks and cedar chests, in cupboards and on coffee tables; not one of them tells me to stop. And if I don’t write, who will speak my words? Does anyone else see the world as I do? I would not be Me if I did not write, or go to yoga, or walk in a marathon.

Who would you be if you didn't do what makes your heart sing? (Tweet This)

Banff, AB.

Thank goodness none of these great writers…stopped.

Herman Wouk, (The Caine Mutiny/Marjorie Morningstar) has finished his latest at age 97. The Lawgiver

Alice Munro, now 86 (wrote Thanks for the Ride when she was 22) Dear Life was produced at 81.

Alan Bradley (Speaking From Among The Bones), at 74 signed on to deliver 5 more books.

Like these ageless authors and their sometimes ageless characters, perhaps writing will keep me young. For me, there is hardly anything more fascinating than a blank page.

Your Bliss might come from something else; the touch of fabric, the feel of a paintbrush, or the quiet of a mountain top. Who would create the garment, paint the picture or climb the sought after peak, if not for you?

I write these words to remind you that there is only one YOU! Don't deprive the world by holding back. (Tweet This)