A LIFESTYLE WORTH LONGING FOR
Long before I could speak its name, the ocean captivated my mind. There on the coast, I caught a glimpse of what could be a future worth exploring. A future by the sea, lying along the shore, laughing with newfound friends, in a place I never knew I’d call home.
Many of us moved to Santa Barbara from different cities, distant states, or even from across the sea. Many of us lived for years in a landlocked suburb or a bustling concrete cityscape where the ocean was a world away.
Then, we moved. Almost immediately after high school, we ventured out on our own, and started building a life here in Santa Barbara. For so many years, living in a beach town sounded like a fever dream, but we made it happen and now we get to reap the benefits of one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
trading Tides over texas heat
When I first traded the Texas heat for the California coast, I let myself revel in the fact that I lived in a home close to the water, with mountains peeking out from behind the clouds, flowers blooming in every corner, and trees towering over me, seemingly trying to reach the sky.
I lived in Orange County as I completed community college, where I noticed that those who lived furthest from the beach were often those you’d see lying out on the sand or nestling onto a towel to watch the sun dip below the horizon.
You could almost always find my friends and I chasing that feeling up and down PCH, with the windows rolled down, we’d allow the salty air to whisk through our hair, filling our lungs with the Pacific breeze. We’d blast music, bumping to the bass, pumping our fists, and swaying our heads to the groove as we sang along to the chorus of our favorite songs.
The beauty in the background
But then I moved to Santa Barbara, where sunset picnics took place on the Isla Vista Bluffs and daily commutes to class featured a scenic route of the mountains watching over the sea.
Every day, I would wake up with the sunrise peeking through the curtains of my bedroom window. I’d peer outside from the top of my bunk, taking in the natural beauty of a sunny Santa Barbara morning. I’d go on long walks, breathing in the eucalyptus and lavender, admiring the scenery and adjusting to my new normal.
However, a quiet issue arose. This new normal was slowly transforming the sound of curling tides from crashing along the shore into white noise echoing in the back of my mind. Days would go by where I’d forget about the sea, waving to me from just beyond the coastline.
I’d left afternoons to sitting inside, allowing the beach’s immediate accessibility to hinder my appreciation for it. I fell into a routine of being physically and mentally absent from the Santa Barbara landscape that was once painted as a luxury.
savor the sand and the sea
You could be living anywhere in the world, and you happen to be here in Santa Barbara, where the sky meets the sea and the mountains stand tall along the horizon. And who knows, you might not always live here. In fact, you might not live here ever again.
That’s why it’s so important to look around, to recognize our normal isn’t mundane nor is it a background worth tuning out in our busy schedules. We constantly complain about the lack of sun on a windy day, or the gloom of a rainy afternoon, but the reality is that we live in a bubble of quiet luxury.
Right now, you can stroll down Del Playa, skip along the bluffs, picnic down on the sand, bike around the beach town you live in and go about your day getting light whiffs of the salty ocean air.
But, you won’t always be a resident of this coastline. One day your commute to class will be replaced by a highway in a different city. The steps down to sand will mirror the steps you take up to your new apartment after graduation, somewhere away from here.
Whether you grew up by the sea or are a newcomer in this kind of home, I encourage you to take a second and just sit by the shore, read a book, play a game, take a dip, or study for that class you can’t seem to catch up in. Just take a moment to wave at the ocean before it waves goodbye to you.