Wonderment
I stood, toes buried in the sand at the edge of the waves, in complete wonderment. The great expanse of the ocean stretched out before me, familiarity and unpredictability meshed into one. I sat down, eager to see what awaited me, eager to discover the day’s Gift from the Sea.
I first read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea many years ago. I remember being somewhat envious of Anne’s solitary escape to a cottage on the shore of Captiva Island. Free from the distractions of married life and mothering, she was able to discover how nature reflected back to her lessons about her life, specifically in the various shells the tide graciously gifted her. In them, she saw the connections in relationships and the seasons of life that come and go like the tides. Introspective ~ “I began these pages for myself,” and personal ~ “in order to think out my own particular pattern of living,” (p. 3) her words over 60 years ago still resonate from the pages. What was a gift to her, has become a gift to those who begin reading and allow themselves to “lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.” (p. 11)
Over the years, many reviews and pieces have been written about Gift from the Sea, as well as Anne’s personal life, all available online and quite interesting if you become as intrigued as I found myself to be. Rather than attempt a traditional review, which would be a daunting task considering the depth of this literary work (although only 130 pages), I will instead share what has continued to stay with me since delving into its pages a second time.
When we decided to spend a week on “our beloved” Sanibel Island, just a short distance from Anne’s cottage retreat those many years ago, I knew I would bring Anne’s book along. Just like my destination, the book was familiar territory, but it held the promise of newness and discovery. Sanibel has changed over the years but, then again, so have I. What I found this time wasn’t so much the wisdom in Anne’s words, but in the words of her daughter, Reeve Lindbergh, penned March 2005 for the Introduction to the Fiftieth Anniversary Edition of her mother’s book.
“Above all, I think Gift from the Sea offers its reader an unusual kind of freedom. I am talking about the freedom that comes from choosing to remain open, as my mother did, to life itself, whatever it may bring: joys, sorrows, triumphs, failures, suffering, comfort, and certainly, always, change…in trying to live from a core of inner stillness while actively responding, as we all must do, to the “here and now,” my mother quietly set herself free, into her own life and into all life.” (p. xi)
Freedom. The ability to be truly open to the present. The choice to not let the confines of the present tangible moment limit the expanse that is possible within. “And my shells? I can sweep them all into my pocket. They are only there to remind me that the sea recedes and returns eternally.” (p. 102) Like Anne, my shells are a reminder of the ebb and flow of my life and what is possible when I open myself to the wonder of it all.
All quotations taken from:
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Gift from the Sea. Pantheon Books, 2005.
Wonder
You beckoned
And I answered.
The sound of timelessness
Marked in a moment of time
That followed other moments
Until I stood in wonder.
You surrounded me
Awakening my senses
I breathed in your scent -
Salty mist filling my lungs
I felt you on my skin -
Sandy warmth around my toes
I heard your voice -
Tumbling waves of waves
I saw your magnificence -
So familiar yet ever changing
I tasted your love -
sweetness beyond deserving.
The world beckons
And I must answer.
The sound of timelessness
Marks this moment of time
To be followed by other moments
As I stand in wonder. Lynette Bryant, 7/2021
Contemplation:
Is there a place where I have felt the freedom of being truly open to the present moment?
Are there visual reminders I can incorporate into my confined spaces to remind me of the freedom I felt in that place?
Change can be difficult. Where do I see myself resisting the inevitable ebb and flow of life?
What new freedom might I discover if I open myself to the wonder of the moment within those moments of change?
How will my openness to the wonder of each moment affect those around me?
Today, in opening myself to the present moment, I discovered the wonder in _________________________.
If you have read, or read Gift from the Sea, I would love for you to share your thoughts!
