Hey, I’m glad you stopped by. How’s your new year going? With the crazy weather in Central Ohio, I’m already thinking of spring. 

One of my long-held beliefs is that if you do the same things; you get the same results. If you want to grow, you need to do something different to shake up the routine. Tear down walls and flatten the box. I break out of a cycle by listening to different music, reading different authors, and going to new places. If you want to think different thoughts, boldly step outside the lines that define your normal day.

Occasionally, when winters turn warm, my mind begins to travel. Not far from my place is a marina.  It’s not an ocean marina, it’s on a reservoir: dozens of pontoon boats, nothing fancy or particularly seaworthy. I like thinking about them being out there, bobbing on the water, whispering certain freedoms that only water promises. Every so often, they call to me.

I gaze at the boats, listen to the shrilling of gulls, and pretend it’s not a reservoir, but a bay. And on the other side of the trees lies an ocean. From there, I could go anywhere. Up and down the coast, to foreign beaches, to tropical islands, but always sunnier climates.

A favorite time for lake gazing is on a calm day before the sun has climbed out of the dark or after it’s tucked itself into the western horizon. I like when the heavenly diamonds twinkle from an indigo sky, glowing lights mirrored in the water. In those magical moments, the day has paused to a somber hush, a breeze might tousle your hair or nip at your neck. It’s a different kind of solitude being wrapped in the raw of twilight.

Over the water, the air seems fresher and cleaner and a wide open sky speaks of bigger mysteries. That vast heavenly space feeds some lonely, longing place in my soul that nothing else can.  It doesn’t take much time for my brain to reset. Fifteen minutes can feel like a weekend or like I’ve left the planet for days and returned with no one the wiser. I take my time,  breathing in the sky and the presence of The Creator; pressing into His handiwork.

What about you? Where’s your go-to happy place? What’s it like there? How often do you go? What’s your favorite time of day or year to visit?