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Insider Tip

The moon, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, is traveling around the earth at 2,288 miles an hour, and the Earth is traveling around the sun at a whopping 67,000 miles per hour, and in the process, the light of each day changes from about 9 hours on the winter solstice to around 15 hours in late June.

Up till now, I'd thought of all that as a few interesting facts. Now I see it as a significant contributor to my daily life. Let's slow it down, please! Not only is the available sunshine constantly changing, but the time I have left to enjoy this marvelous universe is evaporating at an alarming rate! It's like sand through the hourglass and so are the days of our lives. I'm not at all sure that I like where this is leading.


What I need, it seems to me is a place, and please let me know in the comments below if you think otherwise, a place where I can serenely contemplate the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

Well, I've found that place...

On a secluded stretch of sandy shoreline, not far from Sunset Beach but far from the nearest public access point (a two-mile roundtrip), is a haven from the hectic pace of modern life, although the heavenly bodies are still up to a bit of no good.

The spot I'm talking about is a spot where time slows down. Nestled between the sand dunes you will find an unlikely whatnot. It's true; at the most remote end of Bird Island, there is a mailbox with a bench beside it.

The bench is there to allow you to relax and write your innermost thoughts, wishes, prayers, and dreams in one of the journals to be found inside the mailbox. I personally like to write small missives to loved ones who've left this planet to sleep among the stars.

Before I found the mailbox, I would stand on the beach at Ocean Isle and talk into the wind that's always rushing in from the Atlantic. But this spot on Bird Island is even better. When you've finished you simply place the journal back in the mailbox where you found it.

The Kindred Spirit Mailbox receives an untold number of visitors each year. It's featured in several local news stories and it was the subject of a CBS news special. Even one of Nicholas Sparks' novels, Every Breath, centered around Sunset Beach and the mailbox. 

Visitors come here to open their hearts, bare their souls, and take comfort from the serene surroundings provided by the undeveloped beach, the surf, and the calm horizon.

My innermost thought while at the beach was that no matter how old I am, my whole life is always ahead of me. Curious how that happens, don't you think? Do you suppose it's a random coincidence or is there meaning in it? No matter, the point I'm getting at is that it's important to get as much from each day as possible and for me, that means making happy memories.

If you're looking for a reliable way to make those memories, I've found that it helps to do some little something to make someone else's day a little brighter. When I remember to do that, my skies become bluer and my days are brighter--brighter inside that is. I think you'll find nothing more valuable in this life or the next.

But I'm straying from the path, as I often do, so let's get back on it and come to our happy ending. But before we do that, let me interject that coffee and music help to make happy memories even happier. If you're looking for coffee before or after the mailbox, look no further than Beach House Cafe on the mainland side of Sunset Beach. 

If you need music...first of all why have to journeyed into the wild without music? Never be without music, my friend. Remember, music will get you through times of no coffee, but coffee will never get you through times of no music. I suggest you read my post titled, Magic in the Music, but not now--finish this post first.

Insider Tip:

The serene walk from the last public access on Sunset Beach to Bird Island and the Kindred Spirit Mailbox is a two miles roundtrip and will give you time to reconnect with self and spirit. Bicycles are available for rent at Sunset Beach but, believe me, riding a bike in beach sand is everything you imagine it to be.