Breathe the sea after so long

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I live on an island, and yes, I know what you are thinking: How can someone who lives in Cuba be far from the sea? Well, that's how it is because my city is in the center, with no coasts nearby, no waves, no smell of salt that for many is part of the daily landscape. For me, it is a luxury that I only enjoy from time to time, and this weekend, thanks to a conference, the sea and I reunited.

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It was only Saturday and Sunday, a couple of days, but they were enough to remind me what it really means to inhabit this island, with my feet in the sand and my chest full of breeze.

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On Saturday I arrived at the hotel near the boardwalk, and before settling in, I was already heading down to the shore. I couldn't help it. I took off my shoes and walked on the wet sand, feeling every grain under my soles. That texture, rough and soft at the same time, firm and shifting... so different from the gray asphalt of my city. And the sound: that constant, hypnotic crashing.

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On Sunday I woke up early and sat on a flat rock, looking at the horizon, and took a deep breath. Inhaling the sea is inhaling memory, salt air, dreamed journeys, childhoods on another beach that I no longer visit often. It is a smell that grabs you from within, that cleanses you of the worries accumulated from so much work and routine.

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Feeling the humid wind on my face, seeing how the blue changes from light sky blue to deep indigo as the clouds pass by, was as if something inside me was unblocked. It seems to me as if I had been living on pause, and suddenly the sea pressed play on my heart.

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And the most beautiful thing was being able to share that blue with other people who were also at the conference, with colleagues from other provinces, all as grateful as I was. People from the center, or from the dry east who miss the coast, and we sat together on the sand on Sunday afternoon, without rushing, watching the sun say goodbye among pink clouds.

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This weekend I didn't go to a conference; I went to remember that breathing is more than filling your lungs. It is reuniting with what makes us feel alive.

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_{🌊 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈! 🌊
𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂 𝑪𝒖𝒃𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐’𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒂𝒓.
𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 100% 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏-𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 (𝒏𝒐 𝑨𝑰).
𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑳𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒊.
𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕? 𝑼𝒑𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚! 💙}