beach | At Home with Tech

September 20, 2020

Why More Beach Time Helps Me Stay Centered

If you live near the beach, I recommend visiting it more often. Not so much for the sun or swimming, but to simply soak up the larger space. Here’s why…

It’s been six months already. Can you believe it? It feels like forever. And yet, these months are just a blip in a much larger timeline. That’s been easy to forget when my world has largely been compressed into the safe but limited square footage of our home.

When I do get out, I’ve found it helps to remind myself to look about… really look around. That has recentered my perspective and helps me feel more comfortable enduring this marathon COVID-19 experience.

The Value of Beach Time during COVID-19
My family and I have intentionally spent more time at our local beach over these past months. Beyond the expected and soothing qualities of that primal environment, the beach is a clear reminder that much of the world carries on as it has for countless millennia.

Warm or cold. Rain or shine, it’s helpful to be in that space (and of course, while practicing social distancing).

That sense of a larger continuity may not provide complete consolation, but it’s a good reminder that we’re all players in a much longer game.

At the beach… you can feel the greater normal. And that helps me stay centered.

This group of visual moments is a reminder that even though many pieces of our day-to-day lives have evaporated, other basics are still firmly in place.

Slow and steady.

Feeling the Rush
In so many ways, we’re all rushing.

Eager to read more news of a vaccine
Hoping to get back to normal soon
Wanting to reduce all of the stress

Rushing to find a way back.

But of course, we can’t go back. Not really. Too much has already changed.

So, it’s actually all about finding a way forward… to something somewhat different and perhaps better.

That’s all we’ve got. And you can’t rush it.

Set your Pace
We’ll get there. But it’s like a marathon. You’ve got to pace yourself.

And spending a little more time at the beach regardless of the season and perhaps taking a few photos and timelapse videos are good ways to help stay balanced throughout all the disruption.

It’s worked for me, and I highly recommend it.

July 26, 2020

44 Seconds from my Surreal Summer of 2020

Have you begun to see life differently too? Here’s my view from the beach…

I’m not complaining. As I write this, our state is currently not a hot spot. My family and I are healthy and safe. But of course, this summer of COVID-19 is anything but normal.

Even a walk on our local beach early in the morning feels… surreal.

Avoiding the crowds yet also craving more human interaction. Enjoying the uninterrupted patterns of nature and flow of water, though unable to avoid the constant awareness of instability and global disruption.

It sometimes seems like I’m living in someone else’s painting.

This short video I shot with my DJI Osmo Pocket provides a sense of this experience that I imagine you may also be feeling…

Again, I’m not complaining. Not really. It’s just so weird. And if I’m actually inhabiting a virtual painting in some alternate reality, I’m happy it can be at a beach on a sunny Saturday morning.

#FindingTheBrightSide

May 24, 2020

How to Enjoy a Rainy Day with an iPhone and a GoPro during COVID-19

If you’re concerned about social-distancing challenges at the beach, consider this strategy to avoid the crowds.

Everything is the opposite these days. Well, it certainly feels that way with all of the new anti-social norms that are fusing into our daily lives.

I’ve got just two words to say about this right now…

It’s complicated.

But general human avoidance does seem like a best practice for the foreseeable future.

Practicing the New Art of Avoiding Humanity

It’s all about figuring out where lots of folks aren’t go be.

Doing the opposite.

So when the Saturday weather forecast predicted lots of rain, that was my cue to activate our family beach-day plan (or at least a brief visit).

Fortunately, the storm took its time arriving, and there was wasn’t a drop of precipitation until after we returned home. But the threat was enough to keep the throngs of beach-deprived, COVID-19-weary people away.

And that’s exactly what I was counting on. I brought my GoPro along to capture our moment in the happy emptiness.

Raining on your Parade?

When the downpour finally arrived, and I heard the sudden impact of a thousand rain drops on our roof, I closed my eyes and searched for another opposite reaction.

Then, I grabbed my waterproof iPhone and raincoat and ran outside as the deluge was still at its early peak.

My goal?

…to explore what I usually try to avoid.

Raindrops.

Getting soaking wet isn’t so bad if that’s part of the plan.

Especially when the other part is attempting to snap a few shots of rain in flight and after arrival.