Comments on: Beauty of Broken Things (continued)

By: Sunday Collection - sorrow and joy | Anchors and Masts

Sunday Collection - sorrow and joy | Anchors and Masts — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 18:43:45 +0000

[...] explores the beauty of broken things, giving us a photograph of a spiral shell, with the observation that of all the chipped spirals she [...]

By: Bette

Bette — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:38:41 +0000

Thanks Christine. I wish you could be here to help me celebrate Wish I could have come to your upcoming workshop. I’ve never been to Seattle! Someday I will come and visit you. Hope your weekend at the beach hermitage is a beautiful one! Hugs.

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 19:32:26 +0000

Happy 50th Birthday Bette! That is a special one to celebrate in style. A couple of weeks ago I went to a friend’s 50th and felt honored to be among such wise woman.

By: Bette

Bette — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:39:15 +0000

Thank you for your lovely thoughts about my broken shells haiku. I’m glad it spoke to you, too. Its comforting for me to relate my own brokenness with broken shells . I’m also drawn to them as a reminder that we are not perfect. In fact even a perfect looking shell may have a hidden flaw. Another metaphor that you might enjoy is that a broken shell reveals its insides Everyone’s poetry offerings are wonderful and I’ve enjoyed your reviews of them, Christine. Hope your weekend is beautiful. On Sunday, I’ll be celebrating 50 years in this body gifted to me from God!

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:37:26 +0000

Thanks Kathy, it was the spiral that drew me to these shells at first, and then when I realized that the spiral is what gives it structural strength I was very moved.

Tess, I’ll have to look up the post you mention, sounds like something I would enjoy reading.

Thanks eileen, I am noticing too which gifts from the sea call my name and then hold them in wonder about what they have to teach me.

Thanks so much Timothy.

Suz, I have wanted to do some experimenting with polymer clay, maybe on our Awakening retreat you can pass along some tips!

By: Suz

Suz — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:54:07 +0000

Love shells and sea glass, also. Especially, I love the concept of “wabi-sabi.” I first heard it in a jewelry class in which we were making “aged imitation” jade and cinnabar out of polymer clay and totally resonated with the idea. Now I understand why I love so manyn of the things I love.

Thanks, Christine. You are a breath of fresh air…always!

By: Timothy

Timothy — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:04:29 +0000

Beautiful writing and commentary. Thanks for sharing snippets of the poems submitted. They all spoke to me as well. Another inspiring post.

By: eileen (the dream)

eileen (the dream) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:45:20 +0000

Fantastic photo and words, Christine. I have a deep love for shells and sea glass (a.k.a. mermaid tears) and have many of these sea treasures located throughout my home. I have incorporated the shell spirals into much of my artwork over the years and I see this image slowly moving as I fall asleepp most nights. Soothing. I spent so many years seeking the perfect pieces and often would discard broken ones back into the sea or just walk on by them. Without realizing it, several years ago, I began collecting the less than perfect pieces. Interesting …

By: Tess

Tess — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:40:28 +0000

Your photograph is beautiful, it almost looks like wood. And what you say reminds me somewhat of LadyVivienne’s post earlier this week about the beautiful of the wiccan spiral dance and how that forms a key part of the Samhain ritual.
But mostly what you say reminds me of all the people I’ve met who have varying degrees of learning difficulties. Because my brother has Down’s Syndrome, I’ve probably been exposed to more people like this than most. There was a time when I would shrink from it, but now I see so much of humanity’s beauty there. It’s important not to sentimentalise, of course, but it’s just as you say, even through their brokenness, they withstand the power of the crashing sea, and smile.

By: Kathy Flugel Stone

Kathy Flugel Stone — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:02:06 +0000

I am intrigued and delighted about your observation that the broken shells usually have their central spiral intact. This, along with embracing my imperfections, have been my spiritual lessons of late. In the midst of turmoil, I’ve been trying to return to the center–finding wisdom, strength and my own true Self. When I act from that place, it is from a place of deep knowing and love. It feels like everything becomes a miracle, and the darkness is nourishing–like a womb. But of course, the shadow side, fear always comes again, giving me yet (another) opportunity to face what I need, to grow. So much of life is in spirals. Has been a motif in my dreams, as well as ladders. I’m in another descent now, and feel a new initiation coming on. My craggy, rough, broken outer shell holds the lustrous pearl that my life is forming. Thank you for the beautiful post on broken things, I found it so meaningful…