New Year Wishes for Serenity
See nature as your brothers and sisters as Hemingway suggested
I remember when I was young, my siblings, my older cousin, and I went swimming in the sea. Suddenly, I heard my Aunt, usually calm, shouted at the top of her lungs: Tom, Tom (my cousin’s name is changed), where are you??
My cousin was missing and the adults were looking all over for him.
Luckily all was well.
So my early impression of the sea was mysterious, huge, and fearful.
It can even gobble up kids!
As time goes by, and as I mastered swimming, I no longer regarded the sea as so fearful. However, films always find a way to scare kids either with “Jaws”, “The Titanic”, or “Waterworld” until “Finding Nemo”, which was my absolute favourite!
Sea as Nature, a Part of Us
When Dr. Preeti Singh and Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar presented their first nature prompt of 2023: The Serene Sea, my interest was piqued.
My mind wandered back to “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. The book contributed to his winning the Nobel prize the next year.
The story revolved around an old fisherman Santiago who fought with a marlin, a large marine fish. It took him three days to bring the fish back, but the irony was the marlin was ultimately eaten by the sharks, and Santiago only brought back the marlin’s skeleton.
While Santiago was fighting tooth and nail with the marlin, he began to understand something as stipulated in the story:
You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.
Santiago did not mind if the fish killed him! He saw him and the fish as bothers and a fundamental part of nature — we all die, but life will begin again.
Sea as Refuge
Now whenever I look at the sea, I feel calm.
When the mind and body are in turmoil because of life's reality, I urge you to go near the sea to restore serenity.
Just listen to the waves, and your worries seem to melt away.
I want to share a recent video I took at a deserted beach at Lamma Island, one of the outlying islands in Hong Kong. To me, it was a moment of bliss and a beautiful pause in life.
Thank you for this nature prompt which allows me to ponder the many facets of the sea and our positive relationship with nature.
Before I close, I would like to share two wonderful stories by fellow writers.
Connie Song tells us how she ends up finding her tribe on Medium via poetry and why we should read them.
Josephine Crispin shows us why and how we should be proud of our roots. I cannot agree more!
Warmest wishes to all for serenity and happiness in the New Year!
