When I was living and working in London there were many times when I would have the urge to get away from the city. I needed to escape the blinking lights, the constant noise, the ever present pollution. At that time, my brother was living in Brighton. It too is a city but there was one big difference between London and Brighton: the sea. That's why it was the focus of my attention. 

I would take the short journey to Brighton and sit on the pebble beach. With my back to the crowds of people streaming towards the pier, I would look out across the coast. There was the flat line of the horizon. There were the seagulls soaring in a cloudless blue expanse. There was the tremendous sound of the waves crashing against the shore. As I sat taking in the scene, the salty sea air would whip around me in unpredictable motions, dizzying and uplifting. An hour or two would stretch out and seem to stop so that I would eventually lose track of time. It was enough to just sit and be and let myself be taken in and enfolded by the seascape; the power of nature evident in the movement of the waves that beckoned both to lose myself in them and recover something lost living in the city. My senses were awake and my heart full. I felt whole and connected with nature.

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