One Year Ago Today...

I moved to the Emerald Coast to spend the summer working at a resort in Destin, FL.  This is what I love best about the beach: it is, above all else, perpetually temporary.  I’ve always been fascinated by the ocean.  Not just for its beauty, although it is called the Emerald Coast for a reason.  What fascinates me most is the fact that you can never look at the ocean the same way twice.  Everything on the planet may be in constant motion, but nowhere is it more apparent than here, where a gust of wind or a passing jet ski instantly changes the landscape.  It is one of the most beautiful sights on earth, and it is impossible to hold onto.  I realized this a year ago, but what I didn’t get until now is life at the beach is no different from the beach itself.  It may be beautiful, but it’s impossible to hold onto.

                In the past twelve months I have built bridges and burned them to the ground.  I was put on a pedestal and smacked back down.  I lived more from May to August than the previous three years combined.  I have amazing memories and enormous regrets.  Last summer shaped and changed me like the coast itself.   I went home a different person, and each time I come back I look to relive the experience, knowing full well I can't.  I'm here now and having a great time.  I look around at myself and my friends and remember us as we were a year ago.  To the outside world it looks like not much has changed.  But that's not quite true.  Somehow nothing is different and everything is different.  It's fascinating to watch, and I look forward to seeing how the next week unfolds.  One thing's for sure, if life in Destin really is perpetually temporary, I certainly can't plan or control anyone or anything.  Instead, to beat the beach metaphor to death, for the next seven days I plan to ride the waves and see where they take me.