Today, on my birthday, I found myself walking along the San Francisco Bay, a path I’ve walked many times before with my dog, Maya. These walks have become a morning ritual after dropping my husband off at the Larkspur ferry.
In February, it’s a stroll through half-inch mud and cold wet grass that’s impressively taller each day. I can’t help but notice and admire the tiny shorebirds navigating the craggy mountain-like rocks along the edge. Today, seabirds glide gracefully above the mirror-bay. Sometimes they fight the headwinds that whip through the channel and do so without complaint. In front of me is the Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in the fog of a cold front moving in. To my right, the sentinel mountain that defines Marin, Mt. Tam stands clear and strong against a bluebird sky.
Three Choices
Each day, I’m presented with three choices on how to perceive the world around me. There’s the undeniable beauty of the bay, with its ballet of birds, the gentle lapping of the water, and the majestic presence of the Bridge. Then, there’s a contrasting element to this picturesque scene: the litter scattered along the shoreline, a stark reminder of human carelessness. If I choose to focus solely on the beauty, I’d be hiding from a significant part of what’s true. To dwell only on the pollution would be to deny the beauty that persists and succumb to despair.
My choice, the one I make day after day, is to see both. It’s a decision that acknowledges the world in its entirety, embracing its beauty while not turning a blind eye to its challenges.
This choice leads me to a practice that has become an integral part of my walks; I pick up the trash. I’m not just cleaning up; I’m affirming my role in this world. It’s a small action, but it’s my way of contributing, of not feeling powerless against the tide of thoughtlessness that the litter represents. This practice is my balance, allowing me to live in a world that I’m actively helping to shape, a world in which I can be happy, no matter what.
Joy is Always at Hand
A great blue heron stands stoic on a nearby pylon watching me bobbing along the shoreline. And then I see it. What I’ve come to expect from this way of being is discovering a hidden delight. There, just beyond that tangle of plastic and leaves is a token of joy amidst the seaweed.
Maya looks at me as if I just performed a complex magic trick – just for her. We smile at each other.
It’s a green tennis ball. Like the one I found yesterday and countless days before. These moments are my rewards, reminders that within the choice to embrace truth and engage with life-as-is, lie all manner of waiting delights.
These ‘green tennis balls’ are the tangible results of my third choice, the one that blends awareness with action, creating a space where beauty and improvement coexist.
So, as I continue along my path by the SF bay, and my path in life, I am thinking of the power we all hold—the power to choose, to act, and to find joy in the most unexpected places.
Love,
Gina