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| The sea around the islands sweeps onto the rocky shore in a rhythmic, ever changing pattern, softening its contours and mingling with its substance. A hard, rocky ledge looks at first impregnable and solitary. But when I look closely, I see that the rocks are slicked with a clinging wetness. They are not rocks alone, but have been joined by the sea. If I look even closer, I’ll see that they’ve been smoothed and blurred by long strands of rock weed and mollusks, that there is an interconnectedness between these natural forms. And if I respond to this moment long enough, I find the hard edges within which I define myself start to blur and meld into that which surrounds me, and a sense of connection comes sweeping in like the sea onto a rocky shore. For those edges only exist in our minds; they are a product of our society, each edge added to and built upon throughout our lives in a well meaning yet limiting act of self-definition. Those hard personal edges now start to weaken and sway, toppling into the sea where they are picked up by the waves, tumbled eventually into a fine sand and spread thinly along the ocean floor. |