Beach House Mentality

posted 16th November 2009    Written by: Robyn    CATEGORY: All Posts, Life Lesson, Quarterlife Crisis, Robyn, Season 1

Newport BeachThis past weekend, I celebrated my recent life change with a trip to California to visit one of my best friends from college, Lindzi.  She moved to Newport Beach from Ohio shortly after graduation, and ever since then I have taken advantage of having a good friend living on the beach by visiting every three months.

Usually during my visit, I will turn to Lindzi at least once and ask, “How do you live here?!”.

In my mind, it just doesn’t seem like “real life.”  The sun is always shining.  The weather is always perfect. No one seems to worry about jobs or money.

Newport Beach is home to lots of people who escape to their weekend “houses” or relocate for the summer months.  This results in a lot of people just gathering on the beach day after day, relaxing without a care in the world.

Lindzi literally lives right on the beach–sand beneath your toes just a couple feet away once you step out her front door.  We spent plenty of time relaxing and catching up on the beach, enjoying the warm ocean
breeze and the repetition of the waves.  We made ourselves a picnic of fruit, cheese and crackers and watched the surfers glide into shore.

Even in the middle of the day on Friday, we found groups of people just outside enjoying the weather.  It made me wonder what all these people do career-wise…

I mean they are obviously allowed to take off a Friday to enjoy a gorgeous day at the beach.   Isn’t that how it should be?

On my last day, we rode beach cruiser bikes along the boardwalk and grabbed brunch at an oceanfront cafe.  As we were heading back to her place so I could pack up and catch my flight back to Chicago, we rode
slowly, pointing out cute beach houses that we pretended would be ours one day.

One thing I loved about the houses was the little signs on the beachfront properties–each offering a different piece of advice:

“Slow down your life”

“A well-spent life is spent on the beach”

“Soak up the sun”…

And my personal favorite “Don’t analyze your pleasures”.

This is the one I really let stick with me during my flight home. There are too many times when I stop to critique myself or what I’m doing–even if I’m having a great time. Sometimes I wonder if I am being productive.  Sometimes I wonder if I am wasting time.  Sometimes I feel guilty about not doing something else I “should” be doing.

But really?  Why analyze anything that makes you happy? No matter what it is.

robyn-bio1

photo credit:michele_ficara_manganelli

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