I don't know who put the mailbox on a solitary stretch of beach in North Carolina. I don't know how long it's been there either. Or who stocks it with blank notebooks so that strangers can leave their thoughts on the pages.
There's a note on the lid, telling you where to send a notebook when it gets filled with entries. Someone at that post office box has possession of the hearts and souls of so many people. It is a sacred trust.
Recently my hubby and I walked down to Kindred Spirit - as we nearly always do when we're in the area. As always, I read a few entries. It's clear that Kindred Spirit is a beloved character in many people's lives. Most entries seem to be revisits by people who've been there multiple times. Some are thanking God for life's blessings. Others are struggling with relationships and transitions. And an entry I read the last time was written by someone who is clearly disillusioned with life.
Kindred Spirit is a safe place to say you feel like leaving this world. It's likely someone will come along and read your entry so you'll feel like you've been heard. But they'll never know who you are, so it feels risk free.
It's hard to say why it's so satisfying to leave a bit of your soul there in a black mailbox on the dunes but truthfully there's something almost spiritual about it. I arrived there last time, feeling a bit stressed - torn between my visit to Kindred Spirit and being back on the sand with family. So I journaled about that and also about how we could improve our family vacation on the next trip! Just taking that 15 minutes to write it down and leave it there with only my initials to identify it was enough to take away my stressed-out feeling.
It didn't hurt that the breeze was gentle, the smell of the ocean was in the air and the waves provided background music! There is that sense of meeting God in that mailbox.
I don't know who checks the post office box that receives the full notebooks or what they do with all our stories. But I'm glad they feel called to do this thing.
It is a sacred trust.
What a neat story. Apparently whomever put that box there realizes that everyone needs and deserves "a safe place to fall". What a great way to provide that place for all who visit Kindred Spirit.
ReplyDeleteJeannie Smith
When Chuck and I were walking back from Kindred Spirit the other week we met a woman who wanted to know if we'd seen that mailbox down there. She'd left an entry in 1996 about a man she was crazy about and wondered if it might still be in the notebook. (Alas, the entries are a month or less because it fills up fast! Anyway, the man is now her husband. He was waiting on her back up the beach. Didn't want to walk with her because he was sure the mailbox couldn't possibly still be there!
ReplyDeleteWe miss you all here this weekend! Hope you are feeling well.
Wow! What an awesome story. I would love to meet the one who put the letters on the mailbox spelling kindred spirit. I am reminded of something I was taught in Brownies/Girl Scouts "leave the world a better place than you found it." The one checking the po box has certainly done that! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAmy, you'll have to check it out sometime if you are down at Sunset! Watch out for nude sunbathers in the vicinity. And keep your clothes on darling!
ReplyDelete