LESSONS

Walking the beach each day, I’ve collected not only captivating treasures but also invaluable lessons that I use to guide me through life. I include many of them in my forthcoming beachlogs, A Beachcomber’s Odyssey. Here are a few to “tide” you over...

Keep your options open.
In other words, try to have at least two or three things that you like to collect; that way, you'll rarely be disappointed in your search. My special favorites include old pottery shards with patterns; Native American relics such as arrowheads; certain colors of beach glass; and all types of quartz but especially rose quartz and "button drops" which are small clear perfect orbs of quartz.

There is no “best toy” on the beach.
Thankfully, beachcombing helps us ease out of our competitive urges to one-up or out-do each other. Being the best, having the best or doing the best mean nothing in the lexicon of beachcombing. Why? Because there’s usually more than enough to go around and if there’s not, there probably will be tomorrow. Also, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What I find beautiful, you may not. But that's okay. In fact, that's great! Then we won't be searching for the same things. I always encourage workshop participants to develop and/or be true to their own taste and not base what they collect on what's in vogue or popular.

The magic of something lies in your perception of it.
If a wave washed up a piece of aqua sea glass, many people would probably think "big deal, a piece of broken glass" if they even noticed it at all. But when something like that happens to me—when I look down and discover a shimmering piece of frosted sea glass or a slim polished oval of pink quartz—I'm filled with the same rapture I felt as a kid on Christmas morning at the first sight of wrapped presents under a sparkling tree. Pure magic. Nothing beats it.

The essence of life is change, not stasis.
The tides always roll in and always roll out. On sluggish days with slow tides, few treasures turn up on the shore for beachcombers. But all it takes is one good storm or a brisk wind to stir things up. The ebb and flow of the sea mirror the same in life. If things are great right now, hang on and enjoy the ride. However, if things are difficult, remember that, like the tides, with time, rough stretches also have the potential to change.

There are always opportunities for miracles.
Sometimes when I'm just about to call it a day and give up the search, a miracle happens. A fossilized shark tooth pokes out of the sand by my big toe or a red glass marble rolls in on a wave right up to me. Even during days of the slimmest pickin’s, I know that there is always the possibility of magic happening. Same with life.

Share. Don’t hoard because there’s more than enough to go around.
The sea and sand are generous with their gifts. Every tide brings with it new treasures. Every wave has the potential of tossing up or exposing different things in the sand. There is enough for everyone at the beach, if not today, then tomorrow or the day after. One can only collect so much. Don’t let your beach treasures weigh you down. Refine, refine, refine! Keep the best and toss or share the rest. Putting a smile on someone else’s face is also a treasure, too.

Everyone has obsessions. Picks ones that are life-enhancing, not life-destroying.
For me it began in the middle of winter when a scarlet duck decoy eye swept in on a wave. Looking for more of the same, I soon began beachcombing two, sometimes three times a day, climbing up and down rocks, jumping off jetties, strolling over miles of hard packed sand, and bending, bending, and more bending. My love for beachcombing became such an obsession that I let other important things in my life slide. Worse, all that bending and climbing coupled with prolonged (incorrect) sitting at the computer spiraled into a serious back injury. Too much of a good thing cost me five months in bed.