Being at One with Yourself on the Beach
It was Karl Marx who made the idea of alienation famous. He felt that industrialized society that forced workers to do monotonous and dehumanizing labor was detrimental to our mental health. The idea of the conveyor belt meant that we did the same job over and over again until we felt mentally run down and out of sorts. This feeling is at odds with the natural buoyancy and joy humans should naturally feel – their true nature. Work that took us away from this state was thus alienating.
I feel this sometimes. The best cure, for me anyway, is to get away from it all and lie on a tropical beach. My favorite spot is Coral Cove Bay on Koh Samui. It is a small beach on the Thai island of Koh Samui. The beach is tucked between the two big resort areas of Chaweng and Lamai. Most people miss the place when they are riding between the two big beaches.
Coral Cove Bay has fine white sand and rocks at either end. It also has a few corals at the mouth of the bay that are great for snorkeling. On the beach there is a great Thai restaurant that serves cheap food and cold beers. In the hills near the beach are a few low key but stylish resorts.
I love lying in the sea and staring at the clouds floating in the sky. I lose myself in the natural beauty of the scenery for sometimes an hour at a time. Then I go find a masseuse and have a Thai massage.
In the evening I take a long bath and go out and have a leisurely dinner under the stars. I’m normally in bed and asleep by 10pm. I sleep perfectly and wake up refreshed. It is this routine that really brings me back to myself, my true self. A week of this routine I am at one with myself and with the world. It’s just a shame I have to go back home and to work!