Words in the Waves

Sunrise Paintings Series
bali, indonesia | aug / sept 2023

I awake with the stars and the roosters to prepare prayers for the sun, who is rising as my teacher of excellence. I sit with my heart agape in awe before the the greatest light show on earth. My admittance to this daily performance is the perk of my birth. I applaud, inspired and eager now to once again try my hand at living.

In this first shine of daylight, I am given one chance to speak. Everything that happens today is a gift for me.

And then much craziness and dancing ensues for hours and hour until finally, at the other end of the day, the sky softens and I bring myself into the enchanted garden, twinkling. I hold up my humble report. Now, in the final shine, I present myself to the colors above with these words:

“I live a magical life of romance and excellence. I have learned that no fantasy is too wild when I’m willing to love it as my own extravagant reality. One must grow so silent in word and action that all that remains is the opportunity to slip through the stillness and blossoms into another realm. This is where the flowers come from.”

I receive my reward; the kiss of light lands between my eyes. Stars are hung, one by one, above my head. I snuggle into the cape darkness has wrapped around my shoulders and I take my first steps amongst the fairies. I lean in to listen. The tiny creatures shake the branches to bury their voices behind the rustling leaves. They’re whispering about the stolen dreams they’ve stuffed into their pockets. I wonder…what use is a dream to a fairy?

That will be my question for tomorrow’s sunrise and I will wait on the cliff all morning until the answer appears as words in the waves.

1. LOVE & LIGHT

All that matters is loving people.
Namaste means that the light within me sees and honors the same light that is within you.

2. WONDER

To know the sense of wonder that I knew as a child. I feel it now when I watch the sunrise and when I dive under the ocean. My eyes are filled with light, color and endless blue.I am small before the great beauty and I say it out loud.

3. LISTEN

To listen deeply is why I am here. I listen to you speak and I hear beyond your words into the deeper places that I recognize because I have traveled through them myself. I listen to the voices in my own head and the feelings in my own heart. I listen to the quick ideas and the ones that have simmered within for so long. I listen to the sounds of the birds and the sea and the sounds that flow in through my imagination and become the music we dance to. I listen for the words that want to be written and the words that need to be spoken. I listen and I listen and I listen.

4. SHINE

Shining bright is easy when the light is streaming through me. I am just the window, open for the breeze. It is the sunlight you see, not me. I am nothing really, just space. The more open I become, the more I shine.

5. MAGIC

Magic used to be a fun idea. Magic was something we made up because we didn’t know better. That’s what someone might think but now I know better. I know that life is better when I believe in magic. Magic is not impossible. Magic is the chemical reaction of the universe falling in love with itself. It’s the spark of joy that comes from nowhere and touches everything eventually. Magic is the way something just happened that you can’t explain but it made you love again. Magic will rush through you again, just one more time.

6. PEACE

Peace is not our destination. Peace is our default. From peace we are able to fully be, to explore, expand and enjoy life. We are here to expand. Peace is the starting spot and the base line. Peace is our home. Let it never be foreign to you.

7. boundless

Do you realize how limitless you are? There are no bounds within you. I stare out at the horizon over the ocean as the sun comes up to greet me again and again and I realize this. I have the ability to respond to this day in any way I choose.

8. outre

I am a little bit out there and zany. Call me weird and I’ll say thank you. How interesting this world is and how beautiful the strangeness! I freedive and my mind explodes, baffled by the naturally occurring colorful patterns on the fish I call friends. I sip cacao and as the ever changing sunrise puts on a new show. It’s a free show for every single person on this earth, a one time only show that will never the same as it was this morning. That all of this even exists is odd, bizarre and wonderful. I am the daughter, the sister, the same as this universe that befuddles and endears me.

9. williwaw

And like the changing moods of the mood, I flow from this emotion to the next. Sometimes the ocean is smooth like velvet and other times I am a wild storm like the williwaw in the southern seas. I have known the storms and I have found the tranquility. I feel myself a refuge now for those still tossed in the wicked waves. Come rest and let’s untangle your hair. The wind has tangled it in knots. It will take a long time to smooth it out and time is all we have now.