Brighton Beach - Letting Go Of Stereotypes

When most of us think of beaches, we think of a long sandy terrain with white sands going as far as the eyes can see. We also think of blue, blue waters with huge waves crashing on the white sand. We picture ourselves taking long walks on the beach and maybe surfing the waves. Cue Brighton beach. Brighton beach has none of those qualities. The beaches are stony, the waters are not blue (they are bluish green) and there are no waves (at least there were no waves while I was there). This is the major reasons why I grew to love it so much.

Being at Brighton beach allowed me to let go of all stereotypical ideas of how a beach should look and instead appreciate this beach for what it is.

I went ahead and took a walk on the stony beach. It hurt my feet but I didn’t care. I loved it. I lay on the pebbles. It hurt my back but I didn’t care. I loved it. Then my imagination kicked in. I wondered how the pebbles felt knowing that unlike their fellow "beach colleague' (hehehe), no one wanted to walk on them. I felt sad for the pebbles and wandered what it was like to live the life of a pebble. What is the pebble’s point of view?
Well, here it is (All photos are mine)

As you can see, their point of view is actually quite beautiful. They have an unobstructed view of the sea in front of them, the pier beside them, as well as the city behind them. They actually have it good.

Then I started to think of myself. I come from a country which has a lot of stereotypes attached to it. When I meet people for the first time and mention my country of origin, people instantly consult their list of stereotypes and expect me to fulfill them all. Some react with pity because they assume that I am extremely poor, while other react with veiled fear and uncertainty because they assume that I will attack them or defraud them. They expect all these characteristics from me without getting to know me and appreciating me for what I am. Just another person.
Little did they know that I actually have it good. Unlike what they see on TV, I am pretty comfortable. I am very well educated, I have ZERO debt and I can afford to go on a vacation to anywhere in the world. Just like the pebbles on Brighton beach, my point of view is actually quite beautiful.
It remembered my feelings towards the pebbles on Brighton beach. Remember how I felt pity at first? It occurred to me that I was just like those people. I judged the pebbles before making an effort to understand their point of view. I saw that I only learnt to appreciate Brighton beach for what it was by letting go of my stereotypical expectations and getting to understand its point of view.

We all need to teach ourselves and others to apply this knowledge to everyone and every situation we find ourselves. That way we are able to appreciate life for what is, instead of what we expect it to be.

I have to mention that I am by no means perfect. My learning is slow but I am taking small conscious steps each day to be better at this.

Please join me in my journey towards letting go of stereotypes. Thanks for reading.

Bonus photo for those that stuck with me until the end :)

I just realized two things about this photograph that I had not seen before. One, My dress matches the sky and the other is that there is a sign beside me that says "toilet" and points to me! oh how rude! This sign needs to let go of its stereotypes LOL...