Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).
In a year filled with wonderful moments that served to help me feel alive and connected to this world, one moment does stand out.
Today, when I close my eyes, I hear the waves as they crash rhythmically against the shore, the soft sound of the bubbles that form in the breakers and the squeals of delight coming from the children that surround me. That moment, a few seconds really, was experienced at the beach.
The scent of salt water tickles my nose as I organize our stuff on the beach. Emma grabs my hand and pulls me, with all of her might to the water line where it pauses along the shore. Our feet sink as the wet sand oozes between our toes. My arm is being pulled from it's socket as she yells, "faster, faster, all the way in, all the way in."
Her tiny fingers, wet, slip slowly from my grip as the wave crashes and drags her up toward the beach. I turn, afraid she might be scared. Rolling beneath the breaks, she brushes the water from her eyes, giggles and holds out her arms so that I can help her up and she can do it again.
Of all the moments I experienced in 2010, a day at the big beach is what comes to mind, first and foremost because the sensations experienced still re-play over and over again in my mind. I have always felt most alive on the ocean beach and that experiences is always magnified when I am in the company of children that delight in the experience.
