It’s officially been two weeks since my last post – such a shonda! I apologize: it is not for lack of want (of posting) or for lack of material, rather an insane schedule filled with tests, essays, and glorious traveling.

This week – IU’s spring break, combined with a free ticket from Southwest (accumulated miles, gotta love ‘em) – finds me soaking in beautiful 75 degree weather on our West Coast, somewhere I admittedly do not spend enough time, for obvious monetary reasons. Today a friend and I traveled to Santa Monica’s Venice Beach, with it’s unique compilation of colorful people, obsession with the hippie lifestyle (read: marijuana and headshops), amazing restaurants, shops, and of course the beach.

Taking a break from window-shopping, my friend and I walked along the beach – something I have not truly had the chance to do in several years (several years too many). The crashing waves and cool sand between my toes seemed to take a hold of me: imbuing within me a profound sense of appreciation for my surroundings. I was overwhelmingly calm.

In my moment of bliss I whispered to myself the blessing for observing natural beauty, which teaches us that everything beautiful is deemed an expression of God’s revelation to us:

Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, shekakhah lo b’olamo.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, Master of the Universe, Who has things such in His world.

I said it because I don’t say it enough – most of us don’t. Throughout my childhood going to the beach was something I adored and looked forward to day in and day out. I cherish the time I spent buried in the sand or laying under the sun, because these times were void of peer pressures and the worries of a child. Today because they are free from technology, worries of world peace, and front pages strewn with presidential elections and Yeshiva massacres.

For quite some time I have been trying to find escape space – in which these concerns can be put into the back of my mind. I think I need to spend more time among nature, and the beautiful wonders Gd has put on His earth.

Though perhaps out of context, the famous words of the Israeli poet and hero Hannah Senesh also came to mind as I stood on the doorstep of the Pacific:

My God, My God: May these things never end: The sand and the sea

I recommend that each of you spend time on a beach, or sitting in a green field. Who knows how inspired or touched you may become!