The Magic of Starfish
It was a particularly “sparkling” July morning. The sleepy red sun had risen earlier over a languid blue sea… and by mid morning… I found myself standing knee deep in the cool, clear shallows of the lagoon which had formed along the beach. The lagoon had not been there long… perhaps only a few short weeks or months. I marvelled at the changes since my last visit.
Botticelli Sea Garden - Copyright Jean Burman 2007
The beach changes frequently here… the sand shifting in response to the tide. With it’s incessant swirling and circling… the sea forms the sand into bars and creates pools along the beach where once there was none… and where all manner of marine creatures now exist. How they know when to come… and (more importantly) when to go… I have no idea… but I suppose there will always be those who are lost in the ever changing transition between the sea and the shore.
As I stood knee deep in silent contemplation…scanning the horizon and breathing in the fresh beginnings of the day… I felt a rather strange sensation beneath my feet. I looked down… standing perfectly still so as not to disturb the water in order to see… and was all at once amazed and horrified at what I saw. Beneath my feet… and beyond… for as far as the eye could see… were millions and millions of tiny starfish! No bigger than the palm of a child’s hand… they lay scattered like precious jewels flung into the sea… stretching far and away across the sandy bottom.
As I stood there unable to move a muscle… and fearing to take a step should I inadvertently step on one… I marvelled at the fact that I had not noticed them upon entering the pool… as their small, flat, half buried shapes lay silently on the sandy bottom in perfect camouflage with their surroundings.
What to do… should I go… or should I stay? Common sense finally dictated that I couldn’t stay there forever… so with great trepidation and by placing my feet with very great care… I picked my way out of the pool as carefully as I could. It occurred to me afterward that perhaps I needn’t have been quite so concerned as, on occasion, when my foot inadvertently encountered one buried deep in the sand… the starfish slipped effortlessly to safety from beneath the weight. Nature has it’s way.
Back on the beach… the warm sand between my toes… I contemplated the miracle of what I had just seen. From this distance the lagoon pool was motionless… and gave no hint at the tiny miracles that lay beneath. From a distance… this was just another day in paradise… but for me… I knew it was something very much more than that.
The Starfish - attributed to Loren Eisley
Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to write. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a man dancing on the sand. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day, so he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw he was only a young man, and he wasn’t dancing. Instead, he was reaching down and picking something up, and gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out “Good morning! what are you doing?”
The young man paused, looked up and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean…the sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw them in they’ll die.”
The wise man then remarked “But young man don’t you realise that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!” The young man listened politely, then bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea.
“It made a difference to that one” he said.
July 6th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Oh Jean, what a lovely story - you totally captured me….I was on the beach with you! And your painting!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful….beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! And as for the starfish….if I were one, I’d hope that man just happened to be walking by me! Small actions can make a difference!
I got word from Insurance Company today. I can keep my shower stool for another month…and my cleaning lady…YAHOO! I also have to go to Sydney on the 18th for a Work Cover Medical Examination (this should decide what happens to me next!!!!). I was alrmed at first, as there is no way I could drive, be driven or take a train to Sydney…So, The Insurance Company has booked and paid for a return flight from Orange to Sydney on the day! Its only a half hour flight! Jean, Jean!!! This could all be over soon!!!!!
July 6th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Thank you Jools for your lovely comment about the story and painting. Oddly… this painting was done BEFORE I had my starfish experience! How ’bout that?
That’s good news on progress…
July 7th, 2007 at 3:21 am
great paintings and a lovely story
July 7th, 2007 at 4:42 am
I have been awake since 1am, have a lot on my mind!!!!
Emilys party went well, the ice cream cake (provided by Mum) topped it all off - it was a surprise! Now I have 3 teenagers asleep on my loungeroom floor….some things never change!
More snow on the way!
July 7th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Thank you Roger!
July 10th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Beautiful painting, Jean. And a wonderful post with a delightful and very thought-provoking “kick” at the end. My family and I summered at Martha’s Vineyard for many many years, and starfish were always a part of our lives. At the oceanside we saw live ones rarely, but found the dried ones on the beach and kept many of them, which graced our window sills. They were, and are, special.
July 10th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Jean,I love the story of your encounter with the starfish and the other little tale.I have always been fascinated by starfish…..they are quite magical.
I think your painting is very beautiful…….Oh,I’d love that hanging on my wall!
July 10th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Thanks so much for your lovely comments John…
It sounds as though Martha’s Vineyard needed a starfish rescuer like the man in the story above! I wonder why so many were beached… and if it’s a natural process? I’m sure this needs more research! LOL
July 10th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Bobbie… so great to hear from you again!
Thank you for your lovely comments… they are very much appreciated! Yes… starfish are magical creatures… and I certainly had never had such a close encounter before! It was odd really… and I had to wonder what they were all doing there in such a precarious place… utterly dependent upon the random tide to wash over the sand bar so they could strike a blow for freedom! Fascinating stuff! LOL
July 10th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Jean, I’m inundated with unpacking boxes and organizing our new home…but…had to drop in to say how much I really LOVE your new painting! It’s just captivating all around! The colors are fabulous! And the mood wonderfully dreamy. Please tell us the story behind the inspiration…
July 11th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Hi Mary! Are you coming or going with the boxes… (ie. are you there yet?) I am so pleased to hear from you as I know you’ve been very busy with the shift!
Thanks for asking about the painting. This one isn’t so new… it was actually done a couple of years ago. The original title was “Letting Go” but after painting the subject and (thereby) “letting it go”… I decided that Botticelli Sea Garden was a more theatrical title with wider appeal! LOL
The emotion here is of a mother’s loss. The broken string of pearls (tears) falling from her neck symbolising the loss of our children to the process of “growing up”… the pearls returning to the sea from whence they came. It is as it should be… but the process is not without pain. I know… deep… very deep! LOL
July 11th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Apologies Mary… upon re-reading your post I can see that you are indeed THERE… and UN-packing! I hope you will soon be settled into your new home and once again waving those paintbrushes wildly! Thanks for stopping by!
July 12th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Thanks for filling me in Jean. The message is very deep indeed and speaks volumes to me. My older son will be a junior in high school this year and the reality of his not being with us at home in a couple of years is just beginning to sink into our consciousness. Such a painful thought…and yet…perhaps the pearls that drop won’t be carried too far or swiftly by the current…one can hope.
I am getting the house unpacked little by little, (amazing the incentive out of town company can conjure!). My studio, alas, is a mess…but I’m not fretting. It’s time will come! Thanks for the respite from my chaotic life!
-Mary
July 12th, 2007 at 12:45 am
So good to see you are getting some more visitors Jean…lovely!
July 12th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Thanks for continuing to think of me Jools…
July 12th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Mary… when you think about it… what’s expected of parents (esp mother’s) by society is quite extraordinary. When our children are born we are blessed with their nurture and safe keeping… knowing full well that the day will come when our job will be done and they will leave the family and venture off… fully independent… into the world to fulfill their own destiny. It’s how it should be. It’s something we know from the outset… and it’s something we want with all our heart.
As parents we know that the successful rearing of a child is no easy feat and their success and happiness in independent life will be the ultimate outcome of our best efforts. It’s just you can never imagine how hard it’s going to be… the letting go I mean. And have you noticed… no-one talks about it much? It’s something about which there seems to be some sort of “conspiracy of silence”… (except of course for the condescending references to the empty nest syndrome) It seems the admission of any form of sadness at this time… is viewed with disdain… as a failure on the part of the parent (usually the mother) to let go!
I believe “NOT SO”. Like all transitions… this one needs to be marked with great respect… and honoured for what it is. It is my belief that mother’s everywhere need time and space to grieve sufficiently for the sacrifices they have made in their own lives… for the years that have been lost to child rearing… and to celebrate… not only the successful moving on of their children… but also of themselves.
But of course… motherhood is generally such an unacknowledged and undervalued profession… it comes as no surprise that there are no gongs at the end of it… (except of course for our beautiful children!)
This painting (painted a few years ago now)… was my way of marking the occasion and symbolising the universal experience.
July 12th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I moved to an absurdly large house next to my daughter and her family, and I would like to add a point a read on a t-shirt,” If I had known grandchildren were such fun I would have had them first.”
July 13th, 2007 at 7:21 am
I am dreading Emilys “first flight” from the nest….Its not so much that I shall miss her (I know that I will!!!), it is more a case of …is she ready, have I prepared her enough???? However I am aware that she will only learn from her own mistakes….and she will make them!
July 13th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Roger… I’ve heard that about grandchildren… but I am not in a big hurry to test the theory! Still reeling from Round 1 I guess! *wink* LOL
Jools… I think they are often “readier” than we think. But I know exactly what you mean. We can only prepare them so much… after that… it will be a case of what they remember of what we have taught them… (or maybe even what they “choose” to remember) LOL
Generally speaking… I believe the grief that parents ( esp. mothers) feel is not so much for the child itself… as for the time that has passed. We thought it would last forever… but of course… nothing lasts forever!