One Big Mask for the Over-Thinking Mind

So many sounds. Fake ocean waves waft from one end of the house. The slow and steady click of the grandfather clock in the hall. A gentle whoosh from the ceiling fan at full speed. The periodic tap of the water filter beneath the sink. They mask the silence of nighttime.

There is no masking the noise of daytime. The crash of real ocean waves is hard to silence, but the best way is with the business of the mind. That way the relaxation seeps in slowly, unintentionally. Life is just lived, and not contemplated. First, you need distraction.

Achieve distraction by digging a hole in wet sand without the assistance of one of those kiddie beach shovels. No big shells will be nearby to turn into a tool. So, scratch it up with the fingernails, two hands digging like a dog’s paws. Then, let the ocean’s ground water seep up. Very good, and now you’ve got a pool, but not for sitting in. Here’s the distracting part—help little hands catch sand crabs to their heart’s content, before the sneaky little guys burrow back down. And then stir up the sand again; repeat.

Next, leave the wet sand behind. Sit in the sugar sand. Allow little kids to pour it all over you, and just when you are getting lazy-eyed, plan to be pulled from your warm sun protected cocoon. Now you must make a tot into a mermaid by turning legs into one big sand-fin. This, of course, is entirely unrealistic because no tot is going to keep her legs still long enough to succeed, but do it anyway—it's distracting. In fact, try it about five times.

Now, go sit in the water a bit. Get pushed around. Get sand wedged into parts of a bathing suit that only a fully functioning washing machine will ever extract. Lastly, walk the waves; comb the sand and shells, and find the art made by human and ocean collaborations. Who knows, you might get lucky, and find some of the rare colors: blue and green.

And there, you are done. You didn’t even hear the waves, did you? One big mask over the over-thinking mind.