I AM currently enjoying Michelle Obama’s latest book The Light We Carry.

In one chapter she talks about the struggles faced by so many people during lockdown. Michelle is upfront about the fact that as both as a professional woman and wife of the ex-president, she herself did not face the financial challenges of many others. 

However she admits that she too felt the same sense of isolation and helplessness that so many of us remember from that time. 

One of the coping mechanisms she adopted in lockdown (and still continues) was to take up knitting. 

She says that even though it did not take away the big troubles of the world, knitting allowed her to focus her attention on something completely removed from everything else. 

By doing so she was able to give her mind and soul a bit of breathing space. 

She talks about how helpful this was and continues to be in her life. 

It occurred to me when reading this that we should all have an activity which allows us to do the same – give our minds a rest from all the problems and challenges of daily life. I wondered what I could start doing as my own equivalent to this. 

Not being a knitting enthusiast myself, I needed to find something I would enjoy but that would also require my full focus and attention. The answer came in making the occasional trip to the beach to collect seaglass.   

In order to find tiny bits of seaglass in amongst all the pebbles, sand and other debris on a beach – you have no choice but to concentrate on what you are doing. 

This means that inevitably your mind will be occupied and won’t find it as easy to wander off to its other concerns and worries. 

As Michelle pointed out – such an activity does not in any way solve any issues that might be going on – but what it does is to give you a brief moment of respite so that you have more energy and creativity to confront those same things later on. 

However I have found that there are some added benefits found to seaglass collecting. 

Apart from the exercise and fresh air, anyone who has ever collected seaglass will also know that little hit of satisfaction each time you find a piece. 

Personally I also love the symbolism that seaglass beings with it.  

Just like the people we come across in life, we will never know the full orgins or stories of the pieces of seaglass that we find. 

What we do know though, is that in order to end up on the beach at all they will inevitably have been broken, battered and bashed about.  

They will have been through both storms and periods of calm. 

They will have been knocked and hurled about. 

But despite that often tumultuous history – here they are still are – and all the more strong and beautiful for the journey they have travelled.  

I have one piece of seaglass which I particularly treasure. 

My husband had come to pick me up from the beach and I was almost at the carpark when I found it. 

It was a long way from the shore – higher up than the waves ever go.

I have no idea how it got there – but there it was waiting to be found and treasured just before the carpark steps. 

It serves as a valuable reminder to me that there unexpected special moments around every corner if we keep remembering to look out for them.

Whether you take up knitting, collecting seaglass or something else entirely, it is well worth finding an activity which is enjoyable and which requires your full attention in order to do it. 

Your new pastime might not solve the problems of the world, but you are likely to give your busy mind a rest and gain some much needed respite.