Christina White

The Sun and the Sea

Sun and Sea–together at last!

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View from my hotel balcony

Spouse and I decided to take a quick trip to the coast for the last remaining days of my vacation.

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Fake beer in a fancy-ass glass!

While here (Depot Bay), I have been reading your blogs and thinking quite furiously about THE WORD OF THE YEAR. Which I hadn’t given much thought to until I realized that EVERYONE WAS DOING IT and I want to eat at the cool kids’ table so I’m doing it to.

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Depot Bay main drag

So I gave it quite a bit of thought and decided it should be something that was missing from my life before I quit drinking:

PRESENCE

I disappeared for several years and not just physically (patio hideout). I was checked the fuck out for a long time. I have no idea how my life operated itself while I was drinking because, to be completely honest, I just don’t remember that much of the last 4 years. I’m AMAZED that anything got done.

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Sunset sky

So this year, I’m working on my presence- being in the moment and listening and participating and just feeling ALIVE.

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Sunset on the ocean…featuring the actual sun

If you’re not already completely sick of pictures of trees and ocean, I’ll be posting this weekend’s pictures on a new The Rain In The Trees blog post and maybe you’ll want to check it out.

Posted in soberTagged , , 39 Comments

39 thoughts on “The Sun and the Sea”

    1. Yah, it kind of bubbled up in my head. Thanks! One of the things I’m working on this year is taking better pictures. Last night in my hotel room I read the camera manual and tried all the various settings so I can be more photographer-y.

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      1. I think presence is a great word for the year, especially if you weren’t present previously because of your drinking. I thought I was present when I was doing cocaine as it sharpens your senses but actually my mind was like a roomful of confetti and I couldn’t even focus on a 5 minute conversation. Last year, thinking back on it, my word was “expand” as my life became so much bigger. I started writing my blog which has had thousands of readers, went abroad for the first time in over 6 years in defiance of my OCD. Maybe expand can be my word for this year too as I want to find a suitable boyfriend after years of being alone and take my writing to the next level. http://bit.ly/1ER5cLY

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      2. That’s one of those drugs where you think you’re being profound but turns out you’re just babbling. HAHA! That’s a great word for the year! BTW I love your writing:) Definitely kick it up a notch. And good luck dating! I met husband online.

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  3. OMG, that place looks beautiful! And OMG, having spent yet ANOTHER year in and out of alcohol-induced numbness and struggling with the whole word/mantra for the year thing, the word that has kept coming to me is presence or be present. LOL, just like you! I can totally relate to how you feel about being checked out for the past few years and wondering how anything got done.

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      1. Alison! So happy to see you in Blogsville, and now I feel like I finally assimilated someone. Hahah! You know where you can always hang out with the sober folk- yep, my house. Good luck! Call or text if you ever need me to talk you down. Also, I’ve been thinking about bowling…

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  4. Love your word. It describes so well what we are missing when we are drinking. We are hiding in the bottle. Checked out. Numb. When we stop, we suddenly realize that we are alive.
    Well… Now I want to start thinking about my word for 2016. I want to be a cool kid as well.

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    2. I know! Actually, ALIVE was my first word choice because I felt like I was living again. But it evolved (in my lady brain) to the idea of just being present. I have to keep reminding myself of that when I go off the rails stressing out about dumb shit that hasn’t happened yet:)
      Yep, give it some thought and bring your juice box to the table!

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  5. I love your word…PRESENCE…and I’m really excited that I’m actually at the cool-kids table LOL…I don’t even know who started the word-of-the-year concept but I just love the energy and healing around it.
    And your pictures are awesome keep them coming.
    Jenn

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    1. Hahaha! I know, many sober-folk are so worried about not being cool because they’re not drinking anymore but we just TURNED THATSHIT ON ITS HEAD. Take that, drinkers of the world. Not cool. So sayeth we.

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  6. Beautiful pictures, never get tired of them – but they give me itchy traveling feet! Totally understand the whole ‘checked out’ thing, I’m still sorting through the rubble here. I chose a word retrospectively for last year – Truth – and this year I’m going a bit more upbeat with “Creativity”. Anne of “ainsobriety” is the originator of the “word of the Year”, I believe – she was the original cool chick at the table. We are all just groupies. But still pretty cool xxx

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    2. I like it! It feels good to be creative and loosy-goosey after years of tight alcohol-induced control mechanisms. Oh you SHOULD visit me! Just slide right down the coast, Jackie. I don’t have a gazebo but I do have a covered patio;)

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  10. Oooh, Betty! Happy new year, and you have a great word of the year. Presence. There is so much right here, right now! I have been reading a lot more about mindfulness and “The Art of Attention” by one of my favorite yoga ladies, Elena Brower. Looks like you’re making the most of your moment right now…much love to you. ❤

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    1. Happy new year, Dinah! I am working on it. I have a tendency to let dumb shit that hasn’t happened yet ruin my moment. So I have to remind myself to be here/now. So it’ll be a nice challenge for the year! Love to you too, my friend!! Hope it’s a great 2016 for you and the fam:)

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  12. Hi Betty and Happy New Year, love your choice of word, still not coming up with one here that feels right.
    Love the photos, lovely and warm and cheerful to look at while over the pond we are slowly sinking under a deluge of non stop rain ☺

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    1. Hello, WSB! It’ll probably just pop into your head when you least expect it and you’ll shout (for example) “integrity!!” in the produce aisle of the grocery store and probably startle someone.
      I am NO STRANGER to the rain, so I feel for ya.

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