Every once in a while you need detachment from your normal life. This is why retreats and vacations are invaluable. While you are in the line of fire of your normal life, it's difficult to gain perspective. It's important to step away and view new surroundings. It's imperative to stop seeing with your old-tired eyes and start refresh. It's that simple and, yet, many of us fight the chances of a few days away. Mostly, because we fear what may come up in our realities. Perception is a true awakening wand!So, when a dear friend asked to help her on a trip near the ocean I took it as a sign of being able to detach for a few days. The word, "therapy" immediately came to mind. I began to think of breathing spaces and feeding my mind, body and spirit on a long road trip with one of the most intriguing and wise souls I know. Cause that's what road trips are about! They open us up, challenge us in confine spaces, and bring out lots and lots of laughter. If you aren't experiencing these moments, then you are on a road trip with the wrong person. Today, I was walking the beach, picking up pink seashells when a young man holding a surf board was coming towards me. I gasped. He was exquisite. In a very non lustful and loving way I felt the words leave my body, "My God...you are beautiful!" He was what dreams are made of in romance novels. Those images we think of in all terms of human model perfection. He must not have been older than 20. He stopped next to me and smiled widely which made him look even more radiant. He said, almost embarrassed, "Thank you, ma'am."I answered, "If you don't know your radiance you should cause it's just delightful!" His eyes held this twinkle and I kept on walking. He looked like a chiseled God from some movie: imagine Captain America and Thor creating a new gene pool of pure radiance, strength, and perfection. But he was humble and sweet and just lovely embracing his youth. His energy was more beautiful than his outer beauty. His demeanor made me realize how many of us don't know our greatness, beauty, our own radiance and when we hear it it is actually difficult to take in. It is embarrassing and somewhat uncomfortable to own up to it.Beauty is an enigma. What one person considers beautiful another doesn't. But when you witness it, up close and personal, such exquisiteness leaves you gasping for more. It made me realize also my own youth and how I never recognized how beautiful I was. I look at pictures of myself in my 20's as I struggled to always be thin and poise and didn't recognize the beauty. But, there on that beach for an hour, it was hard to return to what's not lovely when you have a moment of bliss like that while taking in the gorgeousness of a beach day. After that the air felt lighter. The sun brighter. And, the ocean deeper and ethereal than ever. Beauty does that. It brings with it a deeper awareness and frequency.Anytime I leave home, I miss my house. I miss my peeps. I miss my familiarity. But, I needed this trip more than I could have imagined. Today's walk on the beach allowed me to feel beauty, see it and embrace it through my own experiences. I saw parts of me today that I hadn't seen in a long while because life happens and I forget how incredibly lovely I am at times. I forget to count myself as beautiful, or sweet, or anything. I am always handing out the compliments. I am always feeding others with joyfulness and showing them a part of their connections that matter. But, today I did it for me picking up the most stunning shells I've seen in a long time.If you get a chance... see your own beauty through someone else. Witness your own radiance. Accept the gorgeousness of those around you as a reflection of your own exquisiteness. Find compassion for yourself. It's all magical and mystical and deeply enchanting when you accept all of you. And...you, darling...should always come first!