Length of Shower: If I close my eyes I can imagine being at a rinse shower on a beach! --Yesterday I had a few hours to kill and so I headed for the beach. Now, I'm not a "beach person" par say, but I'm trying to be more and more.
So, I headed there alone (as all my friends had work to do) with a pair of swim trunks, and extra t-shirt, my flip-flops, sunglasses, a hat, and a magazine to read. When I got there I realized I had forgotten two very important items: a towel and sunscreen. But not to be deterred, especially after paying $2.50 in quarters for less than two hours of parking, I found two light jackets in the trunk of my car to serve as a towel and I would just risk it with the sunscreen...after all, some "color" would do me good. Needless to say I have a sunburnt back and am currently taking applications from anyone willing to spread aloe lotion on my back every 4 hours all weekend long. Any takers? (Only attractive women need apply) :)
Anyway, while sitting in the sun at the beach reading my magazine I had several moments of what I will call "clarity." While I didn't exactly see how to solve world peace (although I'm always keeping my eyes open for that:)), I did find that the water, the sand and the enormity of the ocean can really make everything else in your life seem trivial. As I sat there I found myself only thinking and considering things in my life that really mattered. Friends, family, love, and a general niceness and openess to my fellow humans. This experience, I know, is not an unusual one but it is nice to reflect and even metaphorically swim in these thoughts to bring one's own life into better perspective. It can be a powerful and calming experience that everyone should have a few times in their lives if possible.
Anyway, that got me to thinking about our world leaders. They tend to meet and have summits in places like New York, London, Moscow, Paris, and so on. None of those places, however, provide an atmosphere of clarity or closeness to water or nature. When was the last time you heard of someone in the world finding transcendence or nirvana or clarity or even inner peace anywhere but near or within nature? If it happens outside of nature at all, it is rare. Which means that there is some sort of unexplainable connection between nature and having a clear, peaceful mind. So, why not have our world summits in places like Bermuda, or New Zealand, or Madagascar, or even the mountains of Tibet? These places would seem to provide a much better environment for clarity and peace. If nothing else these places would provide some great and restful places to take a walk or get away during all the breaks those summits tend to have and take. Imagine the difference at the meeting table after a break when everyone went for a walk or sat on a bench in the middle of a rainforest as apposed to that same person walking or resting on a bench in the bustling Upper East Side of Manhattan. The difference would be enormous I think. So why do they do it? I'm sure it has something to do with security and ease of travel in and out of places like that, but if the focus really was on making headway with the items at hand, they would have the meetings someplace else. Have you ever been to the Galapagos Islands? Those big politicians have, but only for vacation...you would think they would take a clue from that!
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