Sabbatical in the Keys

Three weeks in the Florida Keys

This year we split our annual sabbatical between my grandmother’s house in Key West and our favorite Key: the fully undeveloped island of Bahia Honda State Park.

Island time always often opens up space for me to reflect and drop in. This year, I found myself looking closely at some of my own patterns. After the first few days of paradise wore off, I noticed that familiar nagging feeling still sitting underneath it all — the quiet voice that says I’m not enough, or not doing enough. Anxiety with a prettier backdrop, I guess. It was an interesting mirror to look into while surrounded by pristine waters and palm trees. 

Life doesn’t fully pause just because you’re in paradise — grants are still due, deadlines still exist, emails still await. This was our third year spending time in the Keys, and this time I practiced a whole lot of self-observation and trying to embody “the witness” instead of immediately reacting to every thought spiraling through my head.  I listened to an audio version of Falling Into Grace while wandering the island alone, a book I would highly recommend to anywho who struggles with similar experiences (don’t we all?)

The best day of the trip happened on a day when the planets aligned — there was a literal planetary alignment that night — and we somehow ended up on the boat of Fred, a retired dentist we met at my mom’s art opening the week before. Ben, a visiting friend, one of our local Keys buddies, Fred and I loaded paddleboards onto the boat and headed deep into the backcountry. We docked near Sawyer Key and paddled through pristine open waters. No one else around. Just sharks, rays, mangroves, and fish friends. Later, while crossing to the other side of the island chain, we accidentally found ourselves in the middle of what we could only describe as a dolphin orgy — dolphins jumping, weaving, and swimming around us in wildly playful pairs!

We ended the day snorkeling, wandering through Fred’s backyard paradise, making a quick Winn-Dixie run for kebab supplies, and grilling dinner under a constellation-filled sky. We discovered an octopus hanging on for dear life to our chum bag in the water outside the cabin; nature’s delight always brings me out of my own narrative.

(all 35mm film photos taken by Preston)