walking....

two people walking....hand in hand.

on a beach. hand in hand. barefoot, in the early evening.

sun begins to descend to it's resting place for the night. the wind picks up gently like a whisper.

two people, lovingly hold hands while walking aimlessly down the beach.

both smell the sea air, both feel the warm sun on their face, both hear the sea gulls singing and tides crashing.

both walk, in the same direction, on the same beach, in sync and rhythm along the beach, they walk.

only, one set of feet is in the sand on the shore side, feet brushing the dry sand as they walk, even surface, maybe hot from the sunshine or hard with shells hidden beneath...but this is the experience for these certain feet.

the other feet, still holding to the other's hand and walking together, are however walking in the tide side, the wet water, feet sinking into the sand with each step. this person feels the tide ebb and flow, crashing into their feet with each water's crash onto their skin...they get the sensation of a constant surprise splash of water, reminding them of unpredictable tides and how the water feels crashing wildly against these feet, in a constant rhythm...

both pairs of feet are walking, taking the same journey, the same path...both are present in the same experience, together.

but doesn't it depend on which side you walk on, as to how you walk, with effort or ease, wet or dry, predictable or not.

i never realized that walking together could still produce such a separate experience until this image came to my mind.

whether it's a friend, a family member or yes, even my husband....we walk, hand in hand but you walk on the shore and i walk in the tide. we both walk in the same direction, fleeing from our loss in the direction towards healing...but my feet are sinking in the wet sand constantly and the tide in it's unpredictable pattern yet inevitable rhythm is crashing constantly at me while your feet walk on dry ground....we both walk. but it depends on which side of the tide we walk on how we will talk about our walk down the beach. doesn't it?