OB Sunset by Barrie.
The vibrations of peace, calm, and freedom that dwell in Ocean Beach drew me here time and time again. Each time I visited this small little beach community the desires of my heart were loud and clear. Each visit more pleasant than the previous. Over the course of eight years I was drawn to the shoreline of Ocean Beach for healing, rest, reflection, and renewal. No other town I’ve been to in this country welcomed me unconditionally the way Ocean Beach has.
Deciding to sell my home in the desert to rent here for double what my mortgage payment was may have sounded unwise to some. Yet I was drawn here by powers beyond my human understanding.
What I have found in Ocean Beach is beyond what I came here seeking. I loved the small town mom and pop shops, fishing off the pier, the magnificent ocean and its steady rhythms, ample free parking, and the kindness and insight of others in casual conversations. The vibrations I feel here are magical, spiritual, even other worldly at times, and the harmonic chords of acceptance, encouragement, and community play beautifully with my own inner song.
Growing up in a small western Pennsylvania town I learned to live simply and modestly. I loved nature and enjoyed playing outside in our five acres. Gardening was fun and growing my own food was as natural as could be. Playing in the creek across the street was a frequent passion of mine. One of my fondest memories of my childhood was kicking back on a blanket in the upper acreage watching the puffy clouds roll through a brilliant blue spring sky. The feelings I still vividly remember from that day were ones of peace, contentment, and appreciation. That moment defined ‘home’ for me for the next four decades.
As my family moved about the country and aspired to more, I knew their goals were not my own. Accumulation of stuff and keeping up with the Jones did not satisfy. As I grew up there was always enough money to cover the basic essentials like food, clothing and shelter, plus vehicles, excellent insurance, and even fun money to do things with my friends. My mother and father’s hard work and dedication to raising four children from infancy through college is honorable. The lifestyle they provided was comfortable and free from financial worries. And I took it all for granted.
Imagine what a rude awakening it was for me to realize that I wouldn’t be able to maintain the lifestyle that had been my reality all those years. As my financial situation crumbled and faded away due to illness and disability I had to let go of the luxuries I worked for 35 years for one by one. What I uncovered in their absence was the passionate desire to return to a simple and whimsical lifestyle. One in which I was free to pursue the desires of my heart and soul and make true friends along the way.
Enter Ocean Beach. This small community is chalk full of others who realize that financial abundance and wealth are not what make a person who they are. Watching my own facade of “finances = self worth” fade away I have been able to get back to what matters to me. I began to look within and pursue a path true to myself, I asked myself what I desired deep down in my soul, what were my true passions, how did I want to live? This is the life I’ve created in Ocean Beach.
Once the trappings of wealth were removed (yes, I left claw marks on some of them), I have uncovered the desire to grow spiritually and live a life full of joy, happiness, acceptance of diversity, and understanding. What I desired was real, open, honest connections with fellow human beings who were also pursuing an uplifting existence.
The friends I’ve made in Ocean Beach accept me exactly as I am. We have beautiful and transforming conversations that allow us to grow and change for the better. We lift each other up, we encourage each other, we honor each others uniqueness, we come together and help each other when the need arises, we offer a hand up to those who would benefit from it and pay it forward. We remain free to live a life of love, compassion, and appreciation.
I initially came to Ocean Beach to rest. What I found is my soul’s true home.
A side note to those that want to gentrify Ocean Beach…don’t. We like it the way it is and the precise plan allows us to keep what so many worked so hard for. How can we make you understand that what is here is worth preserving ? My soul has found contentment here. Do not destroy what so many of us love and appreciate just as it is.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW!-Your commentary has a lyric quality about it that tends to get lost amidst the noise and haste of our daily lives. Would that there were more like you even in my benighted world of fictional characters. I am truly humbled. A.W.M.
Sunshine, that is by far one of the most lovely sentiments I have ever read about OB. It`s like you ripped it right out of my heart. Thanks for reminding me why I will be here until the end. Beautifully done my friend. D.J.
Great read, Sunshine! And thanks for the reminder of why I left the suburban Barbie dream house (with pool and spa) to live in a cozy little shoebox. And why, when the landlord inevitably cranks up the rent and kicks us out this summer, we’re going to try to stay in town. This is the kind of place in which, and these are the kind of people with whom I want my daughter to grow up.
As someone who has had the real organic experience of my formative years in O.B. I can tell you when you have as a 6 or 7 year old and you have to drag your mom out of Tony’s or The Hatbox or the Arizona to cook some food.It’s not all that much fun. I know there are alot of people who want claim O.B. as thier own.(“Who is an Obecian”) But if you want to be O.B. then you would not bitch about who got their “Shit” taken in the middle of the night.You just learn to protect your stuff.And make sure everyone has what they need.Just rest assured it ain’t goin’ with you.If it’s in O.B. it belongs to O.B.