I close my eyes and hear the ocean breathing

It is late Sunday afternoon in Sydney and summer is back. I am spending some time with our lovely boarding school girls. Kaylie and I head to Bronte Beach for a swim. 100’s of other people have the same idea even though it is quite late in the day. We don’t have too much trouble finding a park and a place to lay our towels out on the sand. After a quick read and rest we head into the water.

(photos below are Bondi sunrise this morning- Monday 9/2/15)

The waves are so fun; lifting us up and placing us back on our feet as we swim around, ducking, floating, rubbing salt from our eyes, splashing about. The water feels thick and heavy, pulling us out to sea just a little, then pushing us back to shore. I swim out a little deeper until only my toes reach the wet sand. It feels delicious. The sun is setting behind everyone, dropping behind clouds. I have a big grin on my face and feel so excited, looking out at the scene unfolding. The surf lifesaving flags flapping, the couples meeting on the verandah of the Bronte RSL Club, the girl next to us fast asleep, the elderly pair who bring their chairs onto the sand, her red lipstick.

We are all so different and every way I face from my swimming spot, is a different scene. The rock pool in the distance, the horizon of water and sky, children jumping over the final lip of foaming sea that rolls towards the sunbakers and Kaylie beside me. It is truly delightful.

And then this morning we returned to watch the sunrise over Bondi Beach. We took off our joggers and walked along the waters edge, with the seagulls and surfers. All sun, cloud and sea, all shades of blue and I think of something my father said often on our summer holidays, ‘This is living!’

Kaylie decides to go for a jog along the sand so I join the meditators at the far end of the beach. A man is walking mindfully, step by step, ever so slowly. Another person is in a full stretch, another doing Tai chi. I take photos of the seagulls who don’t seem too worried that I am very close. They trust the mindful people here, who pick up the rubbish on their way past and have almost become a part of this exquisite environment.  

And I close my eyes and hear the ocean breathing; in and out, in and out…in this moment, we align.