Nature’s Small Gifts

I saw a seagull by the water, on an island with wild horses and dolphins who popped their little fins out of the water, and I thought to myself.

This is what life’s about.

The wind gently looping around my hair. The sun illuminating the damp shells and creatures of the sea. The sound of children splashing their feet in the ocean water. All while the wild horses graze behind us. That day, nothing could get me down. It also happened to be my birthday. The one day a year that’s mine.

But I didn’t think about me.

I thought about what was around me, what it felt like, what it meant to be near the ocean and those horses and dolphins, and that seagull. What they must be thinking as they looked on at the curious travelers invading their island. If they wanted us there, or wished us gone. If we made it worse or better with our presence.

If they comprehended what it meant at all.

I like to think that those beautiful creatures who allowed us on their island wanted us to see them thrive. Wanted us to feel the salt water on our skin, in our hair. That the sun followed us with luminous rays, shining on all the possibilities.

And all I can say is thank you, thank you for this day in the sun, on the beach, on this island in North Carolina where I found my peace for my birthday. Where I could feel, for just a moment, that everything was going to be okay, that I mattered, even if it was only to the wild horses, curious dolphins, and that beautiful seagull who allowed me to take their picture.