The Art of Seeing...

Today I am having a bad eye day! The early morning glare is really getting to my tear ducts! I have been out walking the dog on Whiting’s beach and basking in the early morning briskness of the air and the rising sun’s warmth on my back. But my eyes are filling up with moisture and overflowing down my cheeks as a result. The effect is a misty looking beach and romantically fuzzy looking dog!

It got me thinking about the art of seeing...and of all the things I have seen in my life. Not so much the metaphorical ‘seeing’...like ‘ in my life I have seen the come and go of wars, technologies and trends etc’ which really means I have observed and been aware of through newspapers, TV, word of mouth and gossip, but have not personally seen. No, I mean what I have actually seen with my own eyes, images that have become the pictures of my memories.

For instance, the look on my partner’s face at the birth of a child, the eyes of that same child for the first time looking into mine.....the birthing of other creatures, like kids and puppies, the Swiss alps, a village parade in Spain with an enormous and very beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary, friends around a bonfire, sunrise in Byron Bay, glass blowing in Venice, trepidation etched across faces embracing their first day at school, wallabies feeding on my front lawn, clouds from the window of a plane, Sydney harbour, the outstretched palm of a possum begging for yet another piece of banana, my son sliding down a wave on a glistening ocean, older daughters’ receiving their University diplomas, my puppy’s tail wagging itself off at the very idea of going for a walk, mists in Hyde park, laughter in the Dalai lama’s eyes, small children begging outside of the Vatican, the skin of a brown snake only inches from my feet, The peaks of Mount Warning, the grey in my Mother’s hair, huge ulcerated sores on the legs of an Islander, sunset over main beach in Yamba... beach erosion in the aftermath of a storm, the burnt out forests of 'ash Wednesday',David Bowie in concert, Fairy penguins in South Australia, Witch Doctors in South Africa, defiance in the eyes of a teenager, the genuine and open smile of a Samoan, cyclonic destruction, gun toting guards in Colombia, steam from a hot cup of coffee on a cold winter's morning, joy in the eyes of my youngest when she has been horse riding, love in the eyes of my husband, snow on mount Kosciusko, recognition and acceptance in every gesture and glance from my sister, my words neatly typed on a computer screen, a text message from my daughter in America, the prison where Ned kelly died, flooding creeks and rivers, paintings, drawings, photos and other amazing art works made by my equally amazing family of creative beings, art works from long deceased and famous individuals in the Louvre and London Gallery...dew on early morning grass and glistening on spider webs, confusion on the face of a loved one dying, Cane fires blazing against a darkened night sky, colourful markets in Apia, gaunt resignation in the eyes of the starving, rapture on the faces of pilgrims to Mecca, dragon dancing in China Town, the moon's reflection on the River in Brisbane, Tiara crowned daughters on 16th birthdays, triumph in my son’s eyes when he first drove the car alone, pain in those same eyes when he suffered burns to his face and upper body, a whale passing out at sea....the incredible words of T.S Eliot in ‘The Wasteland’, Or Amitav Gosh in ‘The Glass palace’ or any one of his novels, candles glowing on a birthday cake, delight on children’s faces opening presents on Christmas morn, curiosity and something else in the eyes of an Orang-utan at Adelaide Zoo, my Mum’s apple pie and the list goes on....

What I have seen is a wealth of imagery too vast to imagine, yet real! A wealth of imagery often taken for granted, yet precious beyond value. What I have seen is a reflection of life...of the wonder of being human. These images will always be uniquely mine and once in a while I will remember them and value them and be glad I had the opportunity to experience them....and in the mean time I hope I will start to be more aware of what I see in every moment, luxuriating in the richness of it all. Every day a gift, every image a treasure.