Seven months later: a walk to the lighthouse
Doris and I took a walk on Sunday, the last time we did it was the 1st of January this year.
I have a tradition on New Year's Day, rather than go out on New Year's Eve (I hate enforced fun) that we get up early, do the horses, and then drive to our nearest beach for a dog walk. It's a bit of a trek given we live in the Midlands, but well worth it.
Walking on Sunday, there was a light pleasant wind, it was low twenty degrees Celsius, very pleasant summer walking weather. Warm enough for t-shirt and a shorts and walking barefoot on the sand, not too hot to for the dog to be safe running around having fun.
When we did the walk on the 1st of January the conditions were very different. It was cold, as you'd expect for winter, but it was a bitter icy wind with intermittent cold rain, near to freezing temperature.
And while we enjoyed it, and it was bracing, it felt quite challenging. One of those walks where you kind of struggle, still enjoy it and mostly feel the benefit afterwards.
On both occasions we parked on the beach at Berrow beach, Somerset, and walked along the beach to the lighthouse at Burnham on Sea.
Whilst I was walking I was thinking about comparisons between how life was in January to now, seven months later. How useful that can be in our lives, whatever area we need to. Looking back at the gains we've made, where some things are the same and we're happy with that. Looking where things haven't progressed as much as we would have liked, and what we can do about that.
I appreciated how it can be good to take a step out of our day to day busyness and look at where things are great, things we want to maintain, and things we might want to work on improvements
What is the equivalent of the walk to the lighthouse you can make in your life? What is your version of the Lighthouse a symbol?
If this kind of seasonal life review resonates with you, I'd love to explore this with you further. Sometimes we need a companion for our own lighthouse walks - whether literal or metaphorical.