The Luxury of Doing Less
When was the last time you watched a sunset without capturing it as content?
Or had a conversation without someone on their phone?
When did you last go for a walk with nowhere to be and no urge to document that you were there?
It feels like somewhere along the way we seem to have forgotten how to holiday, to truly disconnect and reset.
We don't just visit places anymore, we curate them and search for the perfect angle, film a great reel or review a meal before we've even tasted it.
In our pursuit to collect memories, it’s possible we forget to actually live them. It's simply become normal.
Every so often, a place reminds you to look up, to draw in a deep breath and recentre.
Piha is one of those places.
At the edge of the world, only 50 minutes from Auckland’s international airport, the Tasman Sea is simply waiting for you to arrive.
It doesn't ask for your attention, wave after wave, it will keep turning up anyhow.
Black sand stretches for miles beneath your feet and the salt hangs in the air waiting for skin to impress.
The breeze carries the scent of the ocean and native bush. No matter the weather, it is impactful.
Taking photographs is an unexpected reaction, it is afterall, incredibly beautiful and cinematic.
But once you’ve done that, maybe you’ll notice that your phone spends more time in your pocket.
The sensory experience of Piha will subtly shift your habits.
Hearing the surf long before it reaches the shoreline. The feel of the warm black sand beneath your feet, the coolness of the bush as you walk towards waterfalls. The shock of fresh water on your skin, if you’re brave enough to swim.
You stop measuring the day by what you've accomplished - seen or visited, and start measuring it by how connected you feel to something you didn’t realise you were missing; peace and quiet.
