I haven’t been there in forever, but it still comes as a shock to read that Louis’ Restaurant is closing as the result of the pandemic.
During the many years I lived in San Francisco, the whole area of the Sutro Bath Ruins, Sutro Park, and Land’s End was my main “happy place.” I would spend hours walking on Ocean Beach or clambering over the ruins or sitting gazing out at the ocean, then head to the Cliff House or Louis’ or the Seal Rock Inn for breakfast.
Other times I would walk through Golden Gate Park or along the Great Highway to get there. I have so many precious memories of my time in San Francisco, although I can’t even begin to imagine living there at this point in time. Which is just as well, since the San Francisco of my memories most likely doesn’t even exist anymore.
I’m so glad I stumbled across that quote about forgiveness yesterday, because it led me to Danielle Koepke and her Internal Acceptance Movement.
Self-acceptance has been one of my core issues and I remember, several decades ago, finding great comfort in this line from the Desiderata: “You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”
I lived in San Francisco during that time and going to the ocean was one of my primary coping mechanisms. At one inner crisis point I found myself pondering the above quote while walking on Ocean Beach; it was a blustery, somewhat rainy January day, with virtually no other people around. This was perfect, because at one point I found myself crying and (literally) screaming back at my own negative self-talk: “I deserve to live! I have a right to be here!” It was maybe the most intense self-healing process I’d ever experienced.
Later that day one of my adult students showed up unexpectedly at my door with a planter full of beautiful white freesias and ranunculus, just beginning to blossom. Now, she lived about forty-five minutes outside of San Francisco. She didn’t have a scheduled lesson. She just “felt” to bring me these flowers. Can you imagine how that felt to me?!? Suddenly the idea that I was a child of the universe became a felt reality. I felt loved and supported by something bigger and assured that — in fact — I had a right to be here.
This is why I’m grateful to have found the Internal Acceptance Movement and why I especially resonate with their tagline of “You exist, and therefore, you matter.” I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet who wouldn’t benefit from hearing those words.
