Out temporary home is a little self contained flat on the top floor of a four storey Victorian terraced house on the seafront. Where I sit to write is by a window, that if you look straight out of all you can see is sea and sky. Some days it feels like you are onboard a gently rocking ship, and a little disorientating to say the least! However, if you peer over the windowsill and look down, the view is much more revealing.
From where I sit, or stand (to get an even better look!) it really is a bird’s eye view. I can say that, because opposite us is a street lamp that both seagulls and pigeons use as a handy perch, and that perch is a good 6 feet below our window. I have the opportunity here to do what I cannot do at home – to people watch, and to do it unnoticed! What is it about beaches, and holiday makers, and day trippers, that I find so fascinating? The lunatics who think swimming in the sea on a freezing April morning is a good idea? The hapless novice paddle boarders who paddle aimlessly round and round in circles? The stalwart sea fishermen who sit for hours and seemingly catch nothing? Or perhaps the young couple who don’t realise they have an audience for their amorous canoodling?
No, I am not a voyeur! But it is hard not to smile at the things people do when they don’t realise that they have an audience. It has keep me entertained, particularly on the days when the ME symptoms make contemplating the four storeys of stairs difficult, and I have missed getting out to enjoy the unseasonably warm sunshine, and the cool fresh sea breeze for myself.
We have a magnificent sea view from our own home too. But it is very different. The sea is further away and there is a garden and field between. We can see and hear people, but only at a distance. We are much more likely to bird watch from our windows at home, than people watch. I miss it. And being able to step outside effortlessly, through my ground floor patio door, into the sunny garden beyond.
It made me think about how our views and perspectives can change, dependent on the season of life we are in, and what we are experiencing. In both homes I have so much to be thankful for. It’s different here, but it is still good. I miss my home, but I am blessed to have somewhere warm and comfortable to stay whilst my home is being rebuilt. I have days when it is hard to get a good and helpful perspective; when I feel weary, when the news in the media is sad, when the book sales have slowed down, when the build is delayed… but I have learnt the lesson that Hywel teaches Philip in the early pages of The Healing…
‘Being thankful is a good place to start in order to begin to see thing more positively. Be thankful for the everyday things, big and small. Focus your mind on those good things that you are grateful for.’
The Healing , p 29
I am thankful for my bird’s eye view and for the laughs it has given us. Thankful that I live in such a beautiful place, with such amazing vistas. And most of all, thankful that God is with us here, and in it all, book sales included!
The Healing was published by Instant Apostle on 19th March 2021, and is now widely available in both paperback and kindle format.
Signed paperback copies are also available direct from me at www.joymargetts.com for £9.99 including UK postage. Visit my website for more information and do sign up to receive my newsletter.
I felt I was there with you, Joy!