While "beachcombing" the local op-shops, I found this wonderful little volume filled with unforgettable moments: a funeral for drowned fishermen, birds at dusk, and constellations in the night. And with each word picture, painted with the passion and clarity that Gauguin sought in Tahiti, the author Richard Bode shows us how to see with new eyes the choices we make - from relationships we choose to relationships we flee, from careers we pursue to the ones that consume us.
Beachcoming at Miramar has the power, like the sea itself, to reshape your life. In the words of Richard Bode: "Gradually, if I go with courage and wisdom, I arrive at my destination, a place called paradise. It is not a land free of struggle, a realm devoid of pain or grief. But it is the place where I feel at home, where I am supposed to be."
It's the sort of book, a mere 195 pages in A5-format, which I will re-read many times. And I have already ordered Richard Bode's earlier book First You Have to Row a Little Boat in which he writes about what learning to sail taught him about life: making choices, adapting to change, and becoming his own person.
