Happy Place

 Recently a long time online friend asked "where is your happy place?". She was wondering where does your mind go when you can't sleep, a place that relaxes you and helps you rest.

This first memory is so strong in my mind I was sure I had a photograph of it, but I think it is just a picture in my mind.

My happy place has always been by the seashore. I remind myself of the time my mother showed me how to dig in the sand a hole to sit in, laying my towel over the hole that fit my behind just right. That image is so real in my mind that I thought I might have a picture of it. I went looking, but didn't find one.

What I did find was this:

 

My second happy place when I need to rest is visiting Hawaii for the first time. I laid in a hammock and just let my worries go out the door. I didn't think I had a picture of that, but surprise - I found one. I can just imagine laying there, swinging gently in the seaside breeze. Yep, that is me 26 years ago.

Then the other night, when I couldn't sleep, my mind went to the time my "live-in gardener" and I visited Carcasonne, France. We stayed inside the medieval walls for 3 nights. At night most of the tourists were gone and we would walk around the little village in the dark. We would stop to eat a local meal under the stars and the branches of a large tree. It was like we were the only ones sitting there in the world just savoring good food and gentle, warm breezes. It was delightful.

Have you notice a trend for me? My comfort place, my happy place is outdoors.

Where is your happy place? Where does your mind take you when you have a hard time going to sleep?

Sending love,

Marilyn