It's 1:15am and still about 85 degrees. I just came inside from laying on the hammock, where I had been since 7 or 8 this evening. The weather here does not change a bit, but right now there are warm and strong winds coming in from Egypt. There is something overpowering about the sound and power of the wind, rocking the hammock back and forth, rustling the leaves above me and making the shutters creak. It was quite fitting for the book I was reading: The Alchemist. It has been living on my book shelf for years and every time I've picked it up to read I always end up putting it down. I packed it in my suitcase for the summer and since pulling it out on the hammock this morning, I have been glued to it. I can already think of a handful of people that I want to give this book to; if you've read it, you'll understand why. I'm really not sure why I've been staring at it for so many years but never gave it a chance. It's an easy read; if you haven't already read it, you will absolutely take something away from it.
Today was extremely relaxing. I realize that I'm spoiled here and each day is filled with TLC in some form, but today I had a lot of quiet time and a lot of alone time. I laid on the hammock when I woke up and did some yoga on the veranda. I went to the beach for a few hours with D, Haris and McKay, and met up with some of their cousins (who are the kindest of Greek women that I have met thus far). We swam for awhile and I pulled out my book, which, despite the language barrier, had been read by almost everyone in the group. Today was the most relaxed I've been at the beach. Maybe hard to imagine, I know, but my mind has been quite restless and has had so much time to think about everything and anything under the sun. Finally turning to a book -- this one in particular -- reminded me that the whole point of being here is to actually be here; to live and to enjoy.
After the beach I showered in my favorite oasis and had dinner at home. It didn't take much time at all and I was back in the hammock under the still hot and beaming sun, listening to the birds chirp and staring out at the city and the sea. The time spent in that hammock is starting to feel like meditation. I put my book down and fell asleep for awhile, waking up to a water-colored sky of warm pinks and oranges. It is so beautiful here, and right now all of the energy in my body is focused on nothing but noticing and appreciating just how beautiful it is... from the color of the water to the old stones that lay every path. The Alchemist and the tranquility of everything around me has finally put me at so much ease. I spent hours in the hammock tonight, staring up at the stars through the grape leaves, thinking of how many amazing people have come into my life in one form or another. Life at home in the States is so... go, go, go. Sometimes I feel like I never have the minute (or am bad at time management) to tell all of those people how appreciative I am of them... the same appreciation I have for the beauty that I've been awestruck by every single day here. I have all the time in the world right now to have my eyes wide open, to see all the little things that I may have missed if my brain were already rushing on to the next moment that hasn't even arrived. I'm remembering and realizing -- all at the same time -- that no matter where I go in the world it's still me and my heart that I'm traveling with; one that is already filled with so many amazing people who have been the reasons that I constantly find myself in the situations that I do, like laying in a hammock in Greece knowing that I have the entire summer ahead of me to do whatever it is feels right. The Alchemist talks about pursuing ones "Personal Legend," and for those of you who have read it, I'm starting to think that because of the journey life has taken me on over the past handful of years, and the people it has allowed me to love and grow with along the way, that I am actually following whatever "Personal Legend" belongs to me and my life. I've never read a book that made so much inherent sense or had me pausing at so many points to stair up at the sky and think.
This island is magical and the summer has only yet begun.
No comments:
Post a Comment