A Reflection On The Bay

Since I’ve been out of the nursing home, I make a daily pilgrimage down to the beach. It’s literally two minutes from my driveway, and I’ve got this incredible view of Shinnecock Bay — my last place of employment. Some days it’s warm enough to meditate out there, and today was one of those days.

Back in the nursing home, I’d wake up with a head full of chaos — usually after navigating two shifts and three different people just to get my basic needs met and finally get into my chair. I’d be in desperate need of meditation just to orient myself. I’d roll into the conference room, put on my Bose headphones, and listen to nature sounds or peaceful Indian sitar music. I know — corny, cliché — but it worked. I’d meditate for 45 minutes to an hour, then start coding. I’d sit in that yellow-wallpapered room for six, eight, sometimes ten hours, building a new life for myself from that little pocket of silence.

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But today, as I sat in the sun, I recognized something.

As I settled into my breathwork, I could hear the wind rushing through the remaining leaves, and as the sound faded, a formation of geese passed overhead — their chesty honk echoing across the bay. My mind began to empty. I squinted as the sun reflected off the water, then closed my eyes and felt its warmth settle across my face. I began to descend into presence — and that’s when it hit me: I’m actually here.
I don’t have to hide in a conference room and listen to imitation nature sounds anymore. I can go outside and hear the real thing. I can feel the sun. I can be part of the world again.

And that led me to a few thoughts I wanted to share:

What if — just for today — we changed our metric of success?

What if we stopped gauging our worth by productivity or money?
What if we let go of needing approval, or valuing ourselves based on how others see us?
What if we stopped letting the clock dictate whether we’re “on time”?

What if we quieted the inner narrator — that voice that tells us what we need to do, why it matters, and what will fall apart if we don’t?
What if we took one deep breath in, and on the exhale set all of that down?

Maybe we could step into the present moment.
Maybe from that stillness, we could find grounding —
plant a root, and from that root, clarity.

From there, could we reorganize our priorities?
Could we show up for ourselves the way a loving parent or friend would?
Could we take time to listen to the birds and the trickle of the water?

What if this — presence, awe, simplicity — is success?

Could life be more fulfilling simply by residing in each moment?

And as you read this, I want to be clear:
I don’t mean we should stop striving or stop building our lives. I mean that when the noise of the day gets too loud — when we’re caught up in work, expectations, or our own desires — we owe it to ourselves to notice the pattern. From that awareness, we can return to the Way, reorient our priorities, and let the weight we carry fall back into the flow of the universe.

Now… a little shameless self-promotion

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