“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” (Isaac Newton)
Life has a wonderful way of bringing us back to the basics sometimes. It was fun to turn my shells and coral out on the kitchen table and examine and play with them. Fifteen years ago when I visited Fiji, I wasn’t into taking too many pictures or into blogging. In fact, I had not even heard the term. In the above collage, the two images of the resort are postcards I bought there.
The village life here was very simple. The more serious elements of life could be discarded for a few days. There was no need to think about making any lasting achievement here or to become any sort of hero. It was just enough to be with Nature and to do small things.
Taking the time to enjoy my “treasures” now has brought me to another delightful arena of life – the joy of wonder. I hold them and notice their different shapes, colors, sizes, markings, and incredible beauty. This sense of wonder has come with age and time of life.
We all admire and, probably at some time of life, have had aspirations to be artists. The first artist that comes to mind when thinking of the influence of Nature on Art is, of course, the French Impressionist, Claude Monet. As humans, we are prone to be interested in the “big” things – big names, large movements, breaking news. It’s easy to forget that our cavemen ancestors did their first art on the walls of caves. They wanted to express themselves and communicate feelings and they did this through their art. Many of these early markings and paintings were of animals and, perhaps, they were just expressing the beauty they saw in these creatures. Their creativity was born with them.
As you can see from the above collage, the hand-held shell looks like a small rose whose petals are spiralling into the centre. There’s geometry and then there’s the whole area of “Sacred Geometry” that is worth further investigating for those of you interested in this topic. On earth, in the sea, and in the air, there are spirals occurring in Nature.
Fifteen years after collecting these lovely souvenirs on the beach, they have brought me to this time of playfulness and reflection that only fifteen years can bring. Added to this, there is a little bit of synchronicity here. On my coffee table, there is a book that I bought recently called “365 Tao,” and this was the last paragraph of the entry I was reading: “We must not fall into the trap of waiting so long for the big things that we let the numerous small chances slip right by us. People who do this are always waiting for life to be perfect. They complain that fate is against them, that the world does not recognize their greatness. If they would lower their sights, they would see all the beautiful opportunities swirling at their feet. If they would humble themselves enough to bend down, they would scoop untold treasures up into their hands.”
Hope you enjoyed the treasures I scooped up!
“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
References
“365 Tao” – Deng Ming-Dao & “The Hidden Geometry of Life” (Karen L. French)