I hadn't read this article Kate so thanks for sharing it again. Also enjoyed listening to the podcast. I agree with Kate Jones that there's something different about beaches and the experience of the sea in other countries. Even being on the coast in Ireland feels different (even though it's so similar geographically). Interesting to ponder on why it feels so different.
Yes, why does it feel different? Or is it the slight difference that changes the culture of the people who inhabit it, even if ever so slightly? (Or vice versa I guess.) I sometimes think things like accents and dispositions could be affected by encounters with the sea.
Once, ten years ago now, we went to Iceland for my 30th. I saw seals there and then seals again (East Coast of Canada) when we got home and I am STILL excited by that fact. Same, but different.
There is always something so captivating about the sea, isn't there? When we visit the coast of England, I can just sit and watch it ebb and flow for hours. It just feels so vast and beyond our control. Although the Mediterranean coastlines are breathtakingly beautiful, I'm always struck by how emotionally connected I feel on a visit to the beach we go to most years on the North Yorkshire coast. It's feels so rugged and wild, somehow, in comparison. It feels like home, whereas a foreign (to me) beach feels like a temporary escape to another world. Not sure if that makes sense?!
This is how I feel on Maine's rocky beaches or at Crane's in Massachusetts. It is that open ocean ruggedness but also, perhaps, just the memories from that space. Not sure which and if I would feel different had I grown up near a more touristic or tame beach. I remember the first time I saw a place where you could rent chairs and umbrellas for the day. Utter shock. Where I'm from, it's BYO everything. Not trying to be a tough girl, though. I've certainly enjoyed a rented space especially when one can order smoothies and french fries straight to your viewpoint.
Thank you for resurfacing this beautiful meditation on the sea. I too grew up in coastal New England, and I can't fathom any other setting that brings me as much calm and humility as staring out at the vastness of the Atlantic.
As your writing swept me along in its fluid ebb and flow, I was stunned to see my name in your piece and a link to my article on the role Hokusai's Great Wave played in Debussy's composing of La Mer! I'm so glad that article is proving useful to writers and scholars nine years later. :)
Doubly wonderful to be reminded of that piece after publishing an essay earlier this month on Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. It's another fabulous example of Debussy's taking inspiration from other mediums for his music — and one that prompted Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, and Freddie Mercury to embody Debussy's (and Mallarmé's!) faun as a means of expressing artistic freedom.
Wow, Michael! How serendipitous. Your work is fantastic. I am in transit on my way to the Adriatic as we speak and shall check out this new article with delight. It looks truly fascinating. Thanks so much for the lovely comment and happy to connect with you here.
Likewise, Kathleen — glad to connect with you here! Thanks for your kind words about my work. I hope you enjoy your time exploring the world of Debussy's Faun.
Living overseas is such a powerful, sometimes overwhelming experience, and when I read your essays and posts it brings that feeling back for me, wherever you are writing from - I always enjoy your epistles and the sense of adventure they bring.
I think sometimes nature is my escape from the wonderful overwhelm of living in a different culture. As long as I have sea or mountains, I can find myself again, then go back to discovering by the minute.
Curious to hear more about your overseas experience sometime. Thanks for the lovely comment.
East Coaster here! Much respect for the ocean and awe at her magic! The water is transformational somehow, even if you’re just walking and not swimming. Makes me wonder at people’s experiences of thin places. Here we have 12-16’ tides at the Bay of Fundy. The water is so powerful it turns up new fossils every three years or so through erosion.
Wow, that is HUGE. Thanks a lot, Natalie, and happy you could relate. As Victoria says in the comment here, it’s strange the way a certain coastline feels like home.
Made me miss south east Asia! I traveled there for 6 months back in 2009/2010 and have so many wonderful memories. I hear so many of those places have changed a lot (as everything does)!
Just listened to the first third whilst on the train home. Great listen, and a great way to return to a previous post.
I have a deep respect and awe for the sea. It terrified me but also draws me. For our honeymoon, we went to the Maldives for a scuba diving holiday (I'd just gotten my PADI in Melbourne's port Philip bay, brrrrrr). I was so nervous, but it was one of the most incredible experiences ever. Crystal clear blue water that was as warm as bath, teaming with life, stunning corals. A dream.
It still scares me (drowning, rather than sharks), but that experience was invaluable to feel a bit closer to the ocean.
Tropical beaches are so beautiful. It's amazing you got to have a little writing retreat with that view.
I am terrified of scuba diving but everyone who does it talks about the strange calm that takes over underwater. You must see some amazing things in that area of the ocean.
Sometimes - like my surfing experience - I find it really rewarding to lean into fears. Maybe writing is like this, too!
Jul 25, 2023·edited Jul 25, 2023Liked by Dr. Kathleen Waller
I can confirm the strange calm. After doing several days of diving, I actually came to long for that moment of my ears dipping below the surface and sinking into the slow crackle of fish and coral and unearthly sea ambience.
Definitely rewarding to lean into fears. It helps you to feel alive, I always feel.
I love the coast, and like Kate Jones feel emotionally connected to the areas I’ve revisited throughout my life - including the same North Yorkshire beach she refers to and a Devon village we’ve holidayed at as a family since I was twelve. The sea is so many things; calming, beautiful, scary, humbling... Thank you for another great post :)
I hadn't read this article Kate so thanks for sharing it again. Also enjoyed listening to the podcast. I agree with Kate Jones that there's something different about beaches and the experience of the sea in other countries. Even being on the coast in Ireland feels different (even though it's so similar geographically). Interesting to ponder on why it feels so different.
Thanks for listening!
Yes, why does it feel different? Or is it the slight difference that changes the culture of the people who inhabit it, even if ever so slightly? (Or vice versa I guess.) I sometimes think things like accents and dispositions could be affected by encounters with the sea.
Once, ten years ago now, we went to Iceland for my 30th. I saw seals there and then seals again (East Coast of Canada) when we got home and I am STILL excited by that fact. Same, but different.
There is always something so captivating about the sea, isn't there? When we visit the coast of England, I can just sit and watch it ebb and flow for hours. It just feels so vast and beyond our control. Although the Mediterranean coastlines are breathtakingly beautiful, I'm always struck by how emotionally connected I feel on a visit to the beach we go to most years on the North Yorkshire coast. It's feels so rugged and wild, somehow, in comparison. It feels like home, whereas a foreign (to me) beach feels like a temporary escape to another world. Not sure if that makes sense?!
It does!!
This is how I feel on Maine's rocky beaches or at Crane's in Massachusetts. It is that open ocean ruggedness but also, perhaps, just the memories from that space. Not sure which and if I would feel different had I grown up near a more touristic or tame beach. I remember the first time I saw a place where you could rent chairs and umbrellas for the day. Utter shock. Where I'm from, it's BYO everything. Not trying to be a tough girl, though. I've certainly enjoyed a rented space especially when one can order smoothies and french fries straight to your viewpoint.
Exactly! BYO everything is what we are also used to, but resting back and a bit of pampering is also a nicd change ; )
Thank you for resurfacing this beautiful meditation on the sea. I too grew up in coastal New England, and I can't fathom any other setting that brings me as much calm and humility as staring out at the vastness of the Atlantic.
As your writing swept me along in its fluid ebb and flow, I was stunned to see my name in your piece and a link to my article on the role Hokusai's Great Wave played in Debussy's composing of La Mer! I'm so glad that article is proving useful to writers and scholars nine years later. :)
Doubly wonderful to be reminded of that piece after publishing an essay earlier this month on Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. It's another fabulous example of Debussy's taking inspiration from other mediums for his music — and one that prompted Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, and Freddie Mercury to embody Debussy's (and Mallarmé's!) faun as a means of expressing artistic freedom.
https://michaelwriteswords.substack.com/p/claude-debussy-prelude-to-the-afternoon-of-a-fau
Wow, Michael! How serendipitous. Your work is fantastic. I am in transit on my way to the Adriatic as we speak and shall check out this new article with delight. It looks truly fascinating. Thanks so much for the lovely comment and happy to connect with you here.
Likewise, Kathleen — glad to connect with you here! Thanks for your kind words about my work. I hope you enjoy your time exploring the world of Debussy's Faun.
Living overseas is such a powerful, sometimes overwhelming experience, and when I read your essays and posts it brings that feeling back for me, wherever you are writing from - I always enjoy your epistles and the sense of adventure they bring.
Yes yes!
I think sometimes nature is my escape from the wonderful overwhelm of living in a different culture. As long as I have sea or mountains, I can find myself again, then go back to discovering by the minute.
Curious to hear more about your overseas experience sometime. Thanks for the lovely comment.
East Coaster here! Much respect for the ocean and awe at her magic! The water is transformational somehow, even if you’re just walking and not swimming. Makes me wonder at people’s experiences of thin places. Here we have 12-16’ tides at the Bay of Fundy. The water is so powerful it turns up new fossils every three years or so through erosion.
Wow, that is HUGE. Thanks a lot, Natalie, and happy you could relate. As Victoria says in the comment here, it’s strange the way a certain coastline feels like home.
how beautiful. all of it.
Thank you, Katharine!
Made me miss south east Asia! I traveled there for 6 months back in 2009/2010 and have so many wonderful memories. I hear so many of those places have changed a lot (as everything does)!
Wonderful! That’s right around when I first moved to Hong Kong. We probably crossed paths at an airport at least somewhere :)
Just listened to the first third whilst on the train home. Great listen, and a great way to return to a previous post.
I have a deep respect and awe for the sea. It terrified me but also draws me. For our honeymoon, we went to the Maldives for a scuba diving holiday (I'd just gotten my PADI in Melbourne's port Philip bay, brrrrrr). I was so nervous, but it was one of the most incredible experiences ever. Crystal clear blue water that was as warm as bath, teaming with life, stunning corals. A dream.
It still scares me (drowning, rather than sharks), but that experience was invaluable to feel a bit closer to the ocean.
Tropical beaches are so beautiful. It's amazing you got to have a little writing retreat with that view.
Thanks for listening!
I am terrified of scuba diving but everyone who does it talks about the strange calm that takes over underwater. You must see some amazing things in that area of the ocean.
Sometimes - like my surfing experience - I find it really rewarding to lean into fears. Maybe writing is like this, too!
I can confirm the strange calm. After doing several days of diving, I actually came to long for that moment of my ears dipping below the surface and sinking into the slow crackle of fish and coral and unearthly sea ambience.
Definitely rewarding to lean into fears. It helps you to feel alive, I always feel.
Writing in the beech is idilic. I love returning to the coast and how that makes you feel almost primordial.
Oh I love that idea.
I love the coast, and like Kate Jones feel emotionally connected to the areas I’ve revisited throughout my life - including the same North Yorkshire beach she refers to and a Devon village we’ve holidayed at as a family since I was twelve. The sea is so many things; calming, beautiful, scary, humbling... Thank you for another great post :)