It’s my birthday today, and I feel compelled to go to the sea. This morning Kathryn and I jumped into our car and headed west from our home in southwestern Washington state. We chose a route on the quieter and less traveled northern side of the Columbia River, a two-lane highway following the trail blazed in the early 1800s by explorers Lewis and Clark. She napped. I drove, in silence. Nature provided a lush, scenic background. Sweet moments of serene meditation ensued, one after another.

The river appeared, disappeared, and repeatedly reappered, as if teasing me. Her mighty current seemed to be pulling us along, as if she were conscious of a transformative experience awaiting both of us upon meeting and merging with an even mightier and vaster body of water—the Pacific Ocean.

Just before noon we pulled into Long Beach, Washington, where it is legal to drive onto the beach. I found a spot just at the edge of the waves, rolled down the window, and let a powerful symphony of the waves carry me into a deeper experience of stillmess. Perhaps you felt that as well, you Well Keepers who I invited along with me for this day.

Peace. Harmony. Joy.