Wandering Through The Land Of Nod.

A memory of an English summer seaside holiday in Scarborough in which I learnt a new way of paying attention.

The summer journey from York to Scarborough was a quick and pleasant drive along the A64. The sky was blue and the air was fresh when we parked the car and found our way into our accommodation.  We’d booked a traditional seaside hotel, with a traditional seaside landlady who filled us up for the day with wonderful breakfasts (when I chose the vegetarian option, I got twice the amount of food in case I wasted away through lack of meat!). 

As well as feeding us well, she took charge of her guests from the first tentative phone call until the day we left.  The hotel was perfectly situated in the north bay.  To our right was Scarborough Castle, behind us was Scarborough Cricket Club and in front was the sea. 

I could hardly contain my excitement because we’d booked a sea view room. 

Once in, we lugged our suitcases up one flight of stairs after the other until we made it to our attic bedroom with a window high above me.  Thankfully, there were high stools, so I carried on climbing until at last I got my sea view!

Straightaway, I decided to get out my notebook and just write down what I could see through the window, and I did that every day of the holiday. 

This was a new idea to me; it was a bit like painting a picture with words and I was fascinated by what happened.

I began by writing something like I can see the sea and there are people walking past but it progressed to there’s a woman in a red coat walking a dog.  She seems to be in a hurry and impatient when the dog wants to stop.  There’s a man who seems to be struggling to keep going and there’s a couple who have been talking so long that their dogs can’t sit still and are pulling at their leads.  Whole stories were being played out in real life in front of my very eyes. 

The sky took on a life of its own.  Clouds changed shape and colour.  The sea came to life.  Waves rose and fell, danced, crashed and rippled.    There was a whole lot of world out there! 

I didn’t spend an entire week looking out of the window!  I had a really good holiday and I love Scarborough, but looking at the same view and taking notes had a powerful effect on me.  I live in a distracted world with images flashing at me all the time and I can easily miss what is actually going on.   Learning to stop, really look at something and write down what I saw helped me.   

Taking time to do this can be a precious gift especially if, like me, you have constant narratives going on in your head all the time.  Do you know what I mean?  Different scenarios and what if this happens or she says that or it rains ….  The possibilities which our minds can conjure up are endless, aren’t they? 

It can also help us when we meet other people.  Everyone makes a quick impression about how we’re feeling, how tired, happy or sad we are and if we learn to focus our attention by spending time gazing out of a window, we can learn to go beyond those quick first impressions. 

Looking through a window is a good place to start, because the view is literally framed!

As well as looking carefully at a view, a flower or the people you meet (don’t start making notes on them, it won’t go down well!), when you read a book, slowing down and looking carefully at what you’re reading is a good idea.

For me, the week before Easter is holy and full of Bible stories which are a feast for all the senses.  I’m going to try and take time to really concentrate on them and make notes.  I might share on here what I come up with.

How are you going to spend the week before Easter?  Will it involve a notebook?  I’d love to hear!

Wander well,

Mandy.

Things I love:

• The Seaside.
• The Yorkshire Moors.
• The East Coast of England.

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