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.
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?!
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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?!
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
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.
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.
how beautiful. all of it.
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.
Writing in the beech is idilic. I love returning to the coast and how that makes you feel almost primordial.
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 :)