With almost no wind but some nice waves, the surfers were out this morning at Ocean Beach. As a (newly) man of leisure, I hiked there for two hours. There was the usual assortment of joggers, fishermen, and dog walkers.
I met two of the dog owners, one a slender, dark-haired Englishwoman whose female dog was furiously digging a hole. "What's she digging for?" I asked."Her ball. She buries it and then digs it back up."
The other dog person was a blond woman with a movie star smile. She was walking her male dog ahead of me on the beach until they encountered a couple with two other dogs. The gorgeous blond woman's dog joined in the fun as the man threw a ball into the surf for the three dogs to retrieve.
I kept on walking, watching for seaglass, stones, shells, and sand dollars. Eventually, I turned around, and when I passed the spot where the English girl's dog had been digging, her hole had been filled by white foam.
All of these people had disappeared by now. Three Vietnamese fishermen gossiped as they kept an eye on their lines, taut to their sinkers far out in the surf.
At first, to the naked eye, this beach is a drab place, all grey and black. Upon closer observation, however, there are so many colors it can take your breath away. Greens, reds, oranges, browns, blacks, whites, blues...
For me, the beach is a long series of micro-environments. Everywhere I glance I find new forms of beauty.
There have been times when I was in "transition" that I felt sad walking alone on the beach. I felt awkward, as if the whole world could tell I had just lost a job, or a marriage, or a parent.
Today, none of those feelings were present. The beach felt like the most natural place in the world for me to be. I wasn't a lonely man, mourning a loss; I was a free bird, seeking my nourishment.
I suspect I'll be going back soon, if this summery heat holds. There is nothing quite as cleansing as a walk along the shore, even if you're not quite sure what it is you are looking for.
Afterwards I had lunch with my sweet friend Tom; still later, tea with my lovely friend Perla, now very pregnant with her second son.
When I came home finally, at the end of the day, I blessed this opportunity to once again start my life, or at least my career, over. I posted on LinkedIn an announcement of the new company I am forming... David Weir Consulting. I'm in the process of inviting friends to join me.
It's about time, methinks, for me to cease working for others, pursuing their dreams, as opposed to my own.
What do you think, dear reader? Would you like for me to consult with you about something?
I love helping people; teaching writing, editing manuscripts, gathering information, as well as organizational theory. I have a pretty well-developed theory of management, for example.
Maybe I'll write a book about this stuff.
Then again, maybe I'll just go back to the beach. There's just no telling, in the mood I'm in...
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