I am beyond fortunate to live on Vancouver Island
in a beautiful place called the Cowichan Valley.
We are spoilt in the summer for places to swim
and they are definitely my happy places.
Free entertainment for the kids is parenting gold in my world.
When I lie on my back and dip my ears just under the water level
I can hear only the sounds of my own breath
while I swirl round and round looking at the clouds,
the blue of the sky, the strength of the trees
and the ever stabilizing lines of the mountains that surround us here.

This is my meditation, my blocking of the world’s crazy sounds.
I am the only person in the now just for this very split second.
It anchors me to me for a moment and interrupts the numbness that life can start to instill.
I feel only the light chill of the water on my skin,
I see only the light blue of the sky and the green of the trees.
I hear only my slow, but strong rhythmic breathing.
I am alive, I am here in the right now and it feels good.

I raise my head.
I hear the chatter of the world once more,
but I still have the chill on my skin
and the memories of the sound of my breath
and the light in my eyes.
It is lasting inside me that feeling of being absolutely alive.

I urge you this month to check in with yourself however that happens for you.
What is your quiet, your anchor to you this month of August?