Writing Practise
The Smallest Of Surprises Can Be The Most Beautiful
The day my writing practice took a slight detour
Walking down to the beach
I am fortunate in my life to live only a couple of blocks from the beach. Some days, mostly when the weather is gorgeous, I will push myself to take a slow walk down there for my writing practice. I am aware that this may come across as laziness or even taking living by the beach for granted. Truthfully it’s more about my procrastination.
When I arrive I forget all about the writing and just get lost in admiring the stunning horizon. I find I start to ponder on the fact that I am standing on one of the zillion of planets, that are located amid an ever-expanding universe. It humbly grounds me, and my faith is restored in the idea of miracles once again.
Back in May this year, my writing practice down at the beach turned out to be even more remarkable. I had walked down feeling low but looked for a comfortable place to sit. As per usual, I struggled to start to write so I glanced down at the water for inspiration and clocked something peculiar floating on the water. It appeared to be, quite possibly, an item of clothing. Concern sparked within me, and so I kept looking to try and work out what it was and being so odd, to double check it wasn’t a floating body.
This object was moving too quickly? I almost gave up, I needed to start writing, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught a man sprinting across the stones. He had his phone out as if ready to take a photo, and so then I just knew in my gut whatever I saw was something special.
I grabbed my possessions and fumbled over the pebbles, down nearer to the water’s edge. I ran up to the man asking what it was, yet at that point, I could see so clearly the most beautiful seal. There he was right in front of me, shiny and black, with the prettiest face. He was ducking and gliding and had caught a crab for his lunch. He tossed it into the air playfully a few times, bouncing it up and down with his nose.
I was so in awe and attempted to take a photo of this fine black beauty. But oh my, he swam at lightning speed, and with such smooth and athletic precision.
My frantically running across each beach section was attracting crowds of sunbathers. I was high on adrenalin, elated, and felt a long-lost childlike happiness. My smile was beaming from the inside out. This doesn’t normally happen on Hove Beach. Years ago, I had witnessed a man who was off his head on some kind of hallucinogenic and being hotly pursued down into the water by two police officers, but this didn’t feel quite the same as my seal.
Long story short, I assumed I had witnessed something quite rare, well because it was for me. However, when I arrived home, I googled and discovered an article in our local paper to confirm there had been previous sightings of two seals who had moved into the area. They appear to love our beach and our city’s cool vibes. I was elated and thanked God for His awesomeness.
Writing practice
Today I am at the beach, however, no seals are in sight. I start to write, and I realize even without the unusually exciting experiences that spontaneously happen, we can search for the beautiful in our everyday lives. The sun warmly envelopes me as I start to let my first thoughts flow. I look around to see what I can create through my words. A picture, in which I can add and build, elaborating and molding and transforming my ordinary experiences into timeless masterpieces.
My seal — taken by the Author
Thank you for reading
© Chantal Weiss 2023. All Rights Reserved.