Propping open doors

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days “away from it all” with my family by the ocean.  It was warmer than we would have liked, but at night it helped to prop open all the doors in our little cottage so that the ocean breeze could keep the air moving throughout the house.  (I won’t mention that my daughters got the only room with air-conditioning.)  Suffice it to say, we were clearly not the first people to take such an approach with the doors; there were a number of doorstops, hooks and blocks in the house, each positioned next to a door for the sole purpose of holding it open so the air could freely pass through.

While winding down one especially uncomfortable night, I envisioned some of the other homes we saw in our travels during the day.  Some had their windows wide open like ours, curtains fluttering in the breeze, yet others displayed air-conditioning units lodged into various windows.   If you took a second look you could identify those with central air because all their windows and doors were sealed up tight.  I envied them a bit this night -- all closed up so the “conditioned” air did not escape.  They had successfully shut out the discomfort of this sticky night and were probably sleeping soundly; oblivious to the muggy night air.

While I would have enjoyed having some cooler air myself, the natural feel of the unaltered breeze had its own redeeming qualities.  I laid there thinking how nice it was to be away from the sometimes too hectic pace of life and the challenges that went along with it, while I savored the salt air-infused breeze emanating from the ocean.  One of the reasons I think many people are drawn to the ocean is that the ocean never seems to sleep.  The waves continue, the breeze does not wan, and that is how it sometimes feels with things in life.  Maybe that’s why we sometimes just shut them all out.    We close the windows and doors and create a safe place for ourselves where we can be “comfortable.”  Our air conditioned fellow vacationers were indeed comfortable, but had they missed out on something by creating their safe haven from the heat?

We can’t always keep ourselves open to the challenges and pitfalls of life; sometimes it’s just too much to deal with and we end up feeling like we need a break from it all.  It seems to me, though, that if we remember to open ourselves up on a regular basis, we’ll see that much of the bluster of our problems will pass right through with hardly a notice.   Some days it sure is hard to stay open with the whirlwind of chaos around us, but tonight I’ll remember how good being out in the open really feels.  Even if I have to prop myself up to feel it, I’ll remember that I can’t enjoy the beautiful breeze if I keep everything boarded up.