Snorkeling and the Heart

About snorkelling and the heart

I was snorkelling the other day at Clovelly beach and it was beautifully clear and calm in the water. It was a gift for me to be able to be there, coming down as I did from the mountains. I saw brilliant blue gropers among the rocks, and green and mauve vegetation swishing in the current.

It was easy to see the other swimmers and to move with ease this way and that, moving with the fish at times, swimming out at others. But it’s not always like this. Sometimes it’s so murky it’s hard to see at all in the water. When the big tides come or there’s been a lot of rain, there is also a lot of debris.

It can be hard to know how to move, which can bring its own dangers, as there are poisonous stingrays and other creatures in the ocean there. There can be intense currents, at times stronger than my swimming strength, which brings its own challenges and dangers.

It’s similar to our own lives and hearts. When we are overwhelmed, stressed, feeling unsafe, and in the midst of powerful emotions, it can be hard to know how to move.

If we can take a moment or more to nourish our hearts, to simply listen, and rest, we invite a new space to emerge. A space to feel the grief or the fear, or simply to rest in the moment, a pause.

Our hearts are the gateway to our wisdom and love, and a way to more clarity. They are the doorway to our capacity to feel deeply for ourselves and others, both our human and our non-human kin.

Beyond any of this, our hearts are how we heal, how we acknowledge those parts of us born of wounding and love them back into wholeness.

There’s a whole lot more that goes with this of course, a whole lot more.

Yet for now, I invite you to pause and take a moment for your heart. A moment for you. It can make such a difference. The Sufis speak about polishing the mirror of the heart. The clear waters of the ocean bring this beautiful reminder too.

With love,

Lure