Learning to Become a Wave: How Our Life Circles Are Different

Learning to become a wave, is about the special little things and life experiences, that make us who we really are and that can help others to identify who we really are as a result of those unique experiences. Also, this article can be about the subtle differences between the mindsets of rural and urban people, or races and cultures and how those mindsets can influence peer or generational relationships. For example; how city born and raised children may view their rural minded parents or how, for whatever reason, some abandon the very things that make them unique.

'Learning to become a wave,' is about understanding that sometimes we are too quick to judge others, based on our own assumptions or perceptions of who we feel they should or should not be. It is about being able to positively merge cultural heritages that have got one to where one is today. About learning to see life for what life really is; a multi-faceted opportunity to become wiser, better balanced and ultimately happier, by being true to oneself. Lastly, it is about becoming a wave and what it takes to know all the factors that make waves what they are and what, as a result of fully implementing those factors, a wave can potentially become. If you understand the relevance and influence of the ocean, then you will understand the message within this allegory.

Copyright © 2012 - 2013 Pearldiver - Art of the Diver with all rights reserved.

This poem uses the author's own unique life experience, to illustrate the essence of the message within and provide an opportunity to get a glimpse of a very special place. If you read 'Learning to Become a Wave' slowly and aloud, then the poetry and visualization that these small splashes (words) bring to life, will show you why it is important to never let go of the magic that can be found in special places. Why it is important to be loyal to that magic, to oneself, to one's roots. Ironically this poem is also about how such experiences in life help to create a depth of character in one's life. Sadly, it would seem that some of those who would 'judge' the quality of such poetry, do so with an absence of depth and real life experience! Please enjoy the depth of the words.

Copyright © 2012 - 2013 Pearldiver - Art of the Diver with all rights reserved.

Rounded rocks glisten with each lap, lap, lap

Of small splashes learning to become waves

On the western side of my island, life is born

To a magic place that holds the essence of many souls

And calls to each now gone, to never forgot here

ooooo

At the southern end of my island stands a lighthouse

Showing his phallic way for one hundred and fifty years

With cast iron spiral steps climbing steeply to the lamp

Boasting of every boot and every sole they've ever met

And of a young infant crawling upward to the top, without fear

ooooo

On the eastern side of paradise comes the sun

Skipping purposely across the ocean to light my shores

A departing moon concedes and fades high above

Switched off, like midnight stars, the lighthouse sleeps

And daylight shows an island’s naked beauty to the world

ooooo

There’s a special tiny cove on the northern shores

If you dig very carefully you’ll find fossils in the rock

A tiny shell complete with an ancient snail’s dream

Means nothing to city kids who never learned this way

But in nature's classroom on any day, somewhere, my soul will be there

ooooo

Early morning sea mists coat the stillness of my hope

That deep urge to find freshly born mushrooms, in glee

Before the sunrise, anticipation known for its taste

Searching wet paddocks for white mounds in filtered light

And filling hungry buckets too easily fed, with the best

ooooo

And I married a city girl, who had to cling to her city ways

And live beyond the light and haunting call of seabirds

A pretty face, a pretty heart, but no rural island clues

So in city ways we raised our young, though I always hoped

They would understand, what finding wild fruit really means

To every country kid, on an island in the city, trying to cope

ooooo

We are so very different in the things we value most

And we don’t agree on how important mushrooming is

To every city child who never sees nature, at her best

And to every country kid who's always happy, just to see

Can you ever learn to gain true balance in the total of all our ways?

Or do I simply give up and just ignore the pulse within my breast?

ooooo

I’ve always missed that part of me that stayed and never left

And roamed and explored and played, so I became who I am

I could never explain that, to even my own city family

So they always looked at my way and me sideways

As years go by, city ways envelop all island and country life

But I guess, you can’t describe bare feet to city kids, anyway

ooooo

Some country kids have pretty faces and pretty hearts

But inside, never truly understand the city, or its energies

So they struggle with new ways and the importance to be seen

As something that they are not inside, irrespective of the theme

Learn that city kids care to bully and care to win, by being mean

Always like to move on, though they miss, what really should be seen

Do we let the influence of others affect who we become and how we care?

Just assume, rather than understand why other kids feel differently here?

ooooo

Some city kids have pretty faces and pretty hearts

But inside, could never understand what it is to be

A child alone before a sunrise, searching for a special taste

Greeting each day with all the anticipation that it takes

To remain true to their uniqueness and loyal to all the roots

That made them strong, that made them brave

Or an island, with its wise guiding light to help us see

Each special life, each simple splash, learning to become a wave!

_________©_________

* Words by Pearldiver *

Copyright © 2012 - 2013 Pearldiver - Art of the Diver with all rights reserved

There is truly something very special about living on an island, completely self sufficient and sharing its beauty with only family and pets, wildlife and nature. My father was the head lighthouse keeper at several lighthouses on remote parts of New Zealand's coastline and Tiri Tiri Matangi Island, in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, was his last station prior to moving to an unknown place called a city.

The island today is a bird sanctuary and after the mid 1980's was replanted with native bush in anticipation of new arrivals. At the same time the lighthouse was automated with the introduction of solar energy. The current lighthouse keeper of the day was offered the opportunity to become a permanent island supervisor and did so, until his retirement in 2007.

Those paddocks that once gave up so many varieties of mushrooms, are now lost to the bush tracks which meander across the island. I knew every inch of this amazing place, including where to find the best shells, fish, fossils and artifacts. I still know every inch, perhaps more so than those who currently manage the island. In many respects, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that statement. After all, it was every one of those inches that helped form my depth of understanding, character and ultimately who I am as a unique wave.

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope that in your life, you have the opportunity to find a special place that helps you know who you are. Take care.

Pearldiver

Copyright © 2012 - 2013 Pearldiver - Art of the Diver with all rights reserved