Walking along the beautiful beaches of South Australia has been such a blessing for me. The Adelaide coastline stretches a long, long way, and I’ve walked most of its city beaches at some time or another, as well as many rural seaside towns. I even did school and university projects about the beach. They were among my favourites!
The beach has exhilarated me with my first summer swim (often in spring), cooled me when the heatwaves have been tiresome, and soothed me when I’ve been wounded by life. It’s only natural, then, that it has also inspired in this writer the thoughts of stories other than mine.
And that was how I came to write a set of warm-hearted tales. I knew early on I wanted the beach to feature in every story in some way, and I laughed when I decided on the title Beach Shorts. The tales were shorts, and they were from the beach. The Sandthology came later and matched my happy warm stories with the happy warmth of the sand.
But the world is complex, and when an unexpected algal bloom hit our ocean last year, I was heartbroken for my beloved coastline and the inhabitants living within it. I’d occasionally seen sea life washed up over the years – from small puffer fish to big jellyfish – but the enormity of this death toll was devastating.
I have a set of tools to help in these times. I use them in real life, and I weave them into my stories. Focus on what can be done. Look for opportunity. Do what you can with what is before you.
I like helping, and I like being informed. So when it came time to publish my lovely new book, the one with the glory of a beach day on the cover, I investigated ways to help.
Reef restoration is enormously helpful, so I decided that was something I could donate part proceeds of the book towards. And learning more about the marine ecosystem helped enormously. I saw that getting this information out to my 20,000+ followers across social media platforms, and in my blog, could also help.
In helping the beach, I am also helping myself. Taking action for my beloved beach means that I, and my readers, can feel hopeful, can participate in the recovery, and are there when the beach needs us.
I’ll be posting more over the next few blogs.
On we go
Joni
Joni Page 