A Liberated Leap Into the Unknown : Sunshine Coast Edition

The Sunshine Coast of British Columbia is a natural sanctuary, wild, fertile, and unapologetically alive. It’s also home to some truly stunning cabins and houses tucked along its long, winding oceanfronts. So when our friends kindly invited us to spend the weekend at their family home, we, of course, jumped at the opportunity.

It was a weekend full of good food and wine, and an abundance of shopping at the local Sechelt’s farmers market, where artisans sell everything from fresh produce to homemade jams, salts, spices, and baked goods. There was coffee at the local shop, where people look at you like you’re from the city, and little hikes through passages marked with stories of smugglers and trading routes. We ate, drank, and swam in the frigid waters of the Pacific.

The magnificent house sits perched along a small cliffside. To reach the private beach, you descend a long red staircase into a rocky cove. Anchored between two massive boulders is a tucked-away swimming spot. The rocks on either side jut out into the seemingly bottomless, clear, and vibrant ocean. 

After our little aperitif, cheese, charcuterie, olives, and wine, we three women wandered barefoot down to the sun-warmed rocks that had soaked up the last heat of the day. We stood together, gazing across the water toward Vancouver Island. The waves crashed and misted us gently. The sun dipped slowly. We were full, of the moment, of each other.

And then it hit me, that pinch, that uncontrollable urge. And as I began stripping down, my wife turned to me and said, “You’re gonna jump, aren’t you”
It wasn’t a question.
“Yup,” I said. And with two long, nakedly liberated strides, I leapt into the dark ocean, swallowing me in an instant. 

This leap wasn’t just a moment of impulse. I abandoned everything for that moment, and felt so alive I was bursting. Completely free, and yet connected to everything. Blissful, I guess. 
I surfaced screaming: for joy, for the cold, for being alive, and for being together. Then came the second jump, a “nudie twodie”, hand in hand with my best friend C. Both of us yelling, laughing, and alive. Knowing we had each other, by the hand, by the heart, and in spirit. My dear sweet french wife was standing there, cradling both of our clothing, wonderfully fascinated by these two leaping, whooping sirens. 

Audrey and I have always believed that romance doesn’t belong only to lovers. We extend this experience and feeling towards friends, family, places and in solitude, it can be in memories that visit unexpectedly, and even in passing exchanges with strangers. No matter, romance is found in an experience of having your heart be full. Together or alone. 

I think maybe, the more we grasp this; this concept of cultivating life outside the boundary, and into the limitless cosmos of our emotional experience, we all might feel just a heck of a lot better. 

Have you ever felt so alive you just had to jump in, literally or figuratively?

Share your stories of unforgettable weekends with friends, food, wine, and a little wildness in the comments below.

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