Mind Surfing – Part 1
Anyone who has spent time in the South Seas and fallen in love with it could tell you a similar story.
It’s an itch you can’t scratch.
Whole days back at home might go by without thinking about it, but not many.
Being an artist I have time to contemplate the nature of such yearnings and why they stubbornly hold on, month after month, year after year. Sailors called it a siren song. For me it’s like a low rumble of drums that keeps increasing in volume until it must be dealt with.
The typical excuse to my wife is that I’ve run out of material and its time for another “fact finding mission”. It’s true that I make my living this way but the real reasons run far deeper.
It’s one case where the symbols and what they represent are far more important than the actual reality. Not that the actual reality isn’t mind blowing, it is.
Come to think of it I’m not sure that what it symbolizes is in fact actual reality and that what’s obvious to the eye is only temporary illusion.
Without getting too metaphysical I’ll try and draw you an illustration.
A short time back I went on one of those fact finding missions to the Cook Islands with my son Anthony who just turned 10. I waited until he was a good enough swimmer that I didn’t need to worry about him in the ocean.
Mom doesn’t like it when you bring home drowned kids.
This was as much an experiment as anything else.
What will his reaction be and will it be anything like mine?
