Just a couple days ago, while completing a task on behalf of my employer I had the pleasure of taking an extended drive to a community by the name of Conception Harbour, Newfoundland.  I had never been to this place before, but I was elated that I had the opportunity to visit this small town because it left me with so much inspiration.  This little hamlet was absolutely gorgeous, being that it is now the fall of the year gave my early morning drive that much more character.  The trees painted in oranges, reds and greens stretched along the harborside, the perfect morning for such a delightful cruise.  The homes both new and old were nestled amongst the ever growing assortment of trees with an ascent of wood smoke that scattered the tree line and dissipated as it lazily rose to the sky.

I had completed the task at hand concerning my job, so I took five paces, crossed the small street before me and stood there to enjoy the panoramic bliss.  I took a big deep breath, the salty air filling my lungs brought me right back to the days I would venture down to the shoreline and visit my grandfather as he was salting the daily catch of cod fish and mending his nets.  As I perused the coastline I could hear my own heart beat, the sound of the tide rushing in and out was therapeutic; in the foreground seagulls were quietly sitting atop of a weathered bait shed that seemed as if it was paused in time, rich with history.

It seemed virtually void of any time, quiet, peaceful and not a soul was around to disturb my moment of reflect.  I thought about being a young boy again, scavenging the shore for whatever treasures the tide would bestow upon it.  I thought of the yarns that were spun as my grandfather and his buddies would sit all day and talk about what is and what was.  I looked across the harbour, the trees were several shades of October, and every home that I saw was a place I would love to call my own.  For a moment I felt like I could just stand there forever, it was so calming, and made me instantly homesick.

We take our lives for granted most of the time; we are way too busy to sometimes appreciate where we live.  For me time goes too fast, everyday a monotonous, robotic ritual that tends to consume my ability to enjoy the small things in life.  We move at such a pace that before we know it so much of our lives have passed by, technology has taken our attention away from the beauty that is before us when all we really need to do is look up.

I read all the time how we slowly lose touch of reality, handheld devices have turned a lot of us into electronic zombies.  Nobody really talks to each other anymore and when we do we always take that quick peek at our phones because somebody just took a “selfie”.  I had a conversation yesterday with a good friend of mine and that’s what we spoke of, we talked about what we did before we had these distractions. “How did we get by?”  The answer to that question is simply this, we just enjoyed each other, we enjoyed places, and we just enjoyed “life”.  Like I said before, my grandfather would stand on the side of the road where all his peers came religiously every morning and they would talk all day, to each other, face to face, it wasn’t much but it was genuine.

As I stood there in that brief moment of time I was lost in my thoughts, completely in awe of the sight before me, I smiled and began to walk to my car.  As I mentioned earlier, I became instantly inspired, I was itching right away to tell people about my excursion, I couldn’t wait to write about it, I literally could have stayed there for the rest of my life and just wrote, it was so good for the soul.

People fly all over the world for an experience that I had virtually in my backyard, I mean a forty minute drive from town can have that much of an impression on me, well, it certainly did.  I’m a small town guy, I grew up in a community much like this one and I guess that is purely what it was for me that morning, it’s in my DNA, I lived this laid back life for much of my youth, a part of me still misses that.

In closing, I thought that I would share this with you; I hope you too can take a moment to enjoy what you have around you.  Enjoy your family, your friends, take time for yourself and reflect on where you are in your life, how far you have come, and even where you are going.  We have so many other distractions in our lives on a daily basis that we fail to give ourselves a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of the real world.  Never take what you have for granted, we only get a short time on this planet of ours, so every now and again we just need to stop and smell the ocean.