October 01st, 2021

Today is the 1st day of October and the last day of a standard workweek.  We are ready for a new month and more than ready for the weekend. And if the day ends as pretty as it began, we will probably walk over to the beach after dinner to watch the sunset.

There is something magical about a setting sun. No matter how crazy your day, your week or your life is, standing (or sitting) outside, feeling the breeze and looking at the horizon  as the colours come up and the sun goes down, there is a release.  We let go of whatever sits heavy in our minds or our hearts, even if it's just for a few minutes, as we watch  that firey ball in the sky sinking lower and then lower still.  Finally it is just a wink on the edge of the world and then it is gone.

Tim and I have been delighted observers of this show for more than 5 years now and we've noticed something that happens nearly every time.

Most of the folks who also come to the beach to watch the sunset zoom in about 15 minutes before the last gasp.  They are quiet and almost reverent for that quarter hour. They at least appear to be enjoying that sense of calm and serenity. But the instant the sun is out of sight, the very nano-second that the star of the show has left the stage, the jump back in their cars, on their bicycles, or into their shoes and zoom right back out.  Which means that they are missing the third act of the play.

Oh the pre-show is pretty awesome, I have no qualms in saying so.  Watching the colours gather and that perfect light gilding everything it touches, yeah, that's worth watching for sure:

Bearing witness to the end of the day, watching as the sun dips lower and lower  still until it appears to have sunk into the sea is very wow. Don't get me wrong.  It's a different every single time and never stops impressing me. And obviously others feel the exact same way because unless the weather is terrible there are always other folks there with us there enjoying the show.

But the best part, the part most people don't see because they've already turned their backs and departed the area, that part happens after the sun has technically set.  I call it the bloom.  The burning ball of fire is gone but the colours left behind are not only still there, but better. Much, Much better.  If you leave the show before the 3rd act, you've missed the best parts.

The silhouettes against the fingerpainted sky!  I promise you that you absolutely do not want to miss that part:

My advice, the next time you watch a sunset is to not hurry away. Linger awhile longer. Wait to watch the last bloom, see the world in silhouette.  Stick around as the colour slowly fades and all of your stress and cares fade away with it.  Even if it's just for a little while, all is right in the world. 

It's a crazy world, my friends,  and we are always rushing around trying to do a dozen things at once, always feeling as if we are running behind, as if our goal is just about to slip through our fingers.  There is some task or someone who is calling to us, needing us, every second of every day.  Here is an opportunity to let all of that go, even for a short time.  It's helpful and healing and should never be another chore or another box to be ticked and absolutely is not be rushed through.

Go, sit, relax, enjoy the show and allow yourself a little time to be restored.

Have a Great Weekend! (and if you can, watch a sunset or two)