Monday, June 18, 2012

Lost

When are we lost? When we can no longer see our path, find our way?
When we no longer care where our feet lead us?
When our feet don't move at all?

When the contents of our lives become untethered?

A couple of weeks ago I saw a single, filigree earring half-buried in shore sand. I walked on a little way, thinking I should do a post on things lost, so I turned around and went back to photograph the earring. I couldn't find it again. Sometimes things and people are truly lost and stay that way.

But I went looking for lost things again and found some and thought about how melancholy I was feeling. The water-logged spiral notebook in the drowned tote above made me wonder if a writer or student lost their musings and creations to sea and sand. Did the bag fall from a boat, off the pier? (I directed the county harbor crew to it, by the way.)

 I've lost a lot of people this last year and some precious things, including faith in myself at times. It is the nature of life--birth and death, lost and found, doubt and confidence, joy and sorrow. Without the dark would we appreciate the light?

20 comments:

Donna said...

May the light shine on you, lighting those dark times.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Beautiful post and photos! Thank you for sharing your thoughts in such an artistic way.

Yvonne Osborne said...

You see beauty in the simplest things and show it to all of us. I'm sorry for your losses.

storyqueen said...

I love this post. I feel like I've lost a lot in the past 12 months...little pieces of myself that I hope to reclaim someday. I can imagine them them out floating on the foam, swirling, hoping I notice them and recognize them.

I hope I recognize them, too.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Donna: I wish that for you, as well, my friend.

Karen: Hello there and thanks, so much!

Yvonne: Thank you. It's amazing to me how my thoughts roam when I walk. I see and process differently.

Shelley: It's a strange feeling to notice the loss of bits of yourself, but I think we'll find them again or some new amalgam. And, hopefully, make something out of the loss and gain.

Stephanie Thornton said...

Tricia, this post makes me so sad because you bring such beauty into all our lives through your blog.

I hope the next year is kinder, and that you rediscover both old, and new, pieces of yourself.

Sarah Wylie said...

Beautiful post, Tricia. I hope you find some of the things you've lost as well as things you never thought you'd find (good things). *hugs* I so hope things get better.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Stephanie: Sorry to make anyone sad, but I guess it was seeping out of me today. Thank you for the wishes for discoveries and fresh starts.

Sarah: Oh, thank you, my dear. I'm emerging from under my rock and trying to keep my eyes and heart and mind open to possibilities.

Wen Baragrey said...

What a thoughtful, heartfelt post.

Jemi Fraser said...

Life really is such a cycle - or roller coaster of change and ups and downs. It does make us really appreciate those ups.

Julie Dao said...

This was beautiful, Tricia. Sometimes I wonder whether some things aren't meant to be lost. Maybe we appreciate them more for how fleeting they were.

Bish Denham said...

Beautiful, Tricia. If all we ever knew was darkness, light would blind us. Likewise, if all we knew was light, darkness would probably terrify us. (I think there's a scifi book on that latter premise.)

Could that backpack have come all the way from Japan? What they lost is mind-boggling.

We are all temporary beings on this planet.I build cairns and sandcastles to remind me of the ephemeralness of life.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

wen: *waves* talk to you soon.

Jemi: But you know on a roller coaster when you reach to very top and you KNOW you're going DOWN...Actually, I think I'm perking up since that was almost a joke. :)

Julie: I love that idea that some things are meant to be lost. Certainly some art, like sand painting and sand sculpture, are created to be destroyed. What is that? The act of creation, of homage, of joy is what is important, not the object, I guess.

Bish: Oh and your comment follows Julie's! I love that you create to be reminded of the sometimes ephemeral nature of being.

Laurel Garver said...

Beautiful post, and your photos are so thought provoking. Great prompts for poetry.

Wishing you peace and joy today.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Laurel: Thank you so much, and I wish you the same.

Liza said...

Hope things brighten up for you soon, Tricia.

Sarah Laurence said...

I wish you'd found my sunglasses which must have been swept away in last summer's tide. Losing your faith in yourself is far worse. Don't give way to despair. Keep writing towards the light.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Liza: sun's coming out!

Sarah: Oh, I wish I'd found them for you, but they'd have barnacles by now.
It's been a despairing few days but getting better. I see that light. Thank you!

LisaAnn said...

A beautiful and melancholy post. Have you ever read the FOUND books? They are a collection of scrap papers and notes the author has found scattered all over the country. It's amazing what little life snapshots a single note can give us.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Hi LisaAnn! No, I haven't read FOUND, but I'll seek them out now. Sounds fascinating.