That's All I'm Asking For...

The family obligation that originally caused me hesitation in booking my flight to this adventure got pushed up a day, and I had to find a flight back home a day early. Although I was sad to leave our extended stay in Soul Talk Land, I must admit, it really did solve several challenges I would face on my solo day at Myrtle Beach between when the Mystic left with her car in the morning and my flight at 8pm. I started my last day at the beach with the “Texas Sisters”, three sweet, classy women with a lot of love for each other and of life! While each had their own special personality, the love of family exuded from each one of them. During our mini-visits, I learned about two of them, including their relationships with one another, their children, spouses, and family. I found that I share my name with their mother – Shirley Ann. Again, I felt connected to these strangers through conversation accumulating to not more than an hour total. While I hoped they felt the gift of that connect...

  I am finding it hard to be all chronological with this account of my shared experience in Myrtle Beach with my friend, the Mystic. After all, experience is rarely linear, or at least I rarely remember it that way. As I’ve shared in earlier posts, I’m led mostly by feeling . When I think of the feeling of this trip, it is deep, soul-awakening and cleansing, and all felt so new since we were visiting a place I have never been. I woke around 4:30am, with a sour stomach from our previous night of fun at Broadway on the Beach. Just as I was about to bolt to the bathroom, I felt someone stand up from sitting next to me on the bed! I could hear and feel my bestie to my back, so I looked out into the darkness of the hotel room and said “Hello?”, as if the unseen presence would answer. But answer it did, with a wave of warm, almost tingly energy that entered my body on my right side from mid-thigh to the bottom of my ribs. It felt benevolent and loving and I would have liked to have rel...

Bob* and Dale*…oh my! Although I keep typing Chip and Dale, for continuity’s sake, I’ll stick with the Mystic’s alias choices here. These two were a hoot! A flirtatious, comedic tag-team of generational camaraderie camped out at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville who greeted us with their humor immediately. In-between their liners and schtick, they let their guard down for moments of real . In my old age, I am finding how much I dearly love silliness and whimsy, but I require pieces of authenticity sprinkled in to make true connection. Bob and Dale did not disappoint! NPR’s, The Photojournalist discusses The Secret Meaning of Tattoos : “Tattoos may be skin deep, but their significance sometimes goes deeper. The messages sent by body art are an individual's self-expression, but there are recurring motifs that can often tell you something about the wearer.” While I saw no such art on what little skin Bob was showing, Dale’s body art provided messages about who he is and what he va...

My first full day ocean-side started early. They all started early. Between 4:30 and 5:30am seemed my vacation rising time and I had no choice but to go with it! The sunrise was brilliant, the ocean breeze solidified my wide-awakeness and I got to see all the goings-on that most vacationers miss. Activities like lifeguards setting up the beach chairs and umbrellas temporary beach-bums like my bestie and I would later rent for the day. Hotel staff cleaning the pool and enjoying the sunrise with me, and a few other early-risers walking the beach and watching all the birds dive and glide in the breeze. When I served as the opening barista at our local coffee shop, I reveled in catching glimpses of early-morning phenomena I was one of few to see from my vantage point, and I loved it. It felt like secret sensory treasures, gifted for my eyes only. My early beach mornings felt similar, but surprisingly, I was not by any means alone at those ungodly hours! It also gave me time to meet new “...