Fri 4 Jan 2008
How Caribbean Nature Is The Best Teacher
Posted by Heather under Explorations & Revelations
[3] Comments
Joel and I are back in Saba after being “off island” for WAY TOO LONG!
All we can say is, it’s amazing to be back…and in the same breath, why did we stay away so long? (Yes, we expect to be admonished via this blog and e-mail from disgruntled readers!) The reason is that we both got busy with work and travel, keeping us tethered to the United States and almost tempting us back into the rat race.
The good news is that we resisted temptation and we have re-committed to our “island time” lifestyle with more furor than ever.
We are growing an organic garden in our yard, shifting our work schedules and have even more big and exciting surprises ahead, which we will share as we begin to get back into our tiny Caribbean island lifestyle.
We want to wish everyone a joyful, loving, prosperous New Year — and we’re excited about the energy of 2008. It’s all about Nature and how Mother Nature teaches us balance. In our garden and on this island, we are allowing Nature to be our teacher and to guide us to a new level of balance. We trust that this new balance will require us to live closer to the land on this tiny island and to listen more closely to her secrets.
Here is my first lesson…it has to do with fear.
That underlying fear that buzzes at the heart of each one of us. It keeps us in jobs we don’t like, in relationships that aren’t fulfilling, in locations that don’t feel like home. It is the fear we’ve all felt, that sometimes keeps us stuck and sometimes makes us ride the treadmill….But sometimes, it wakes us up and transforms our lives.
As I wondered why life can feel so hard sometimes, I realized it was my perception of my life situation through the lense of fear.
The fear of not being safe, not being enough, not having enough. It’s at a much lower level than it ever was before, but at times when I want to do something new, something challenging, it likes to come back and remind me that I still have work to do in letting it go.
So as I’ve been getting reacquainted with Saba, Nature spoke to me (or maybe I was just hearing voices…No, I have not been tippling the 151-proof Saba Spice, either!). You don’t need to drink Saba Spice or the ever-popular Heinekin, for that matter, to shift your perspective in Saba, though.
You see, this island is a big mountain with outrageous terrain. So much so, that the original King Kong movie from the 1930’s used Saba’s silhouette as King Kong’s “Skull Island” home – and even filmed some of the jungle scenes here (Umm, yeah, it took us 3 years of “living here” to find out that those references about King Kong’s home had a good reason).
In a sense, a lot about Saba is unreal, and it’s the kind of place you have to step back and just listen.
Sometimes the wind blows really hard, much more so than I’ve ever experienced. It can feel scary to me or even disconcerting. Nature told me that between the grounding Mother Earth, that makes me feel safe and the sky and sun, that makes me feel light, there is this wind.
The wind represents our “life situation.” Life can sometimes be gentle and peaceful, other times fast moving and at still other times, harsh and unrelenting.
Just like the wind, it continues to shift and change and through it all, I’m still okay. My house is still okay, Nature is still okay.
If I learn to bend and bow like my palm trees, I can experience the wind without fear. I can stay grounded in Mother Earth and continue to rise toward the sun and sky. And I can trust that I’ll be okay, in spite of the wind. And that the wind can provide some kind of nourishment, if only I let it.
It is sad that I have to admit this (everyone has a skeleton in the closet) … but I pretty much know every detail of the movie. I even met people who both worked and stared in the 1933 film. It was not filmed on/or near Saba. It is all primitive matte work (paintings on glass) filmed on a CA beach and RKO Studio back-lot. All the “so-call” articles talk about a shot of Saba in the beginning of the movie -it does not exist! Skull Island does not appear until 45 minutes into the movie … and when it does it is clear to tell it is not real place …
Hey 2amforsure, good to hear from you – Joel here – Speaking of the rainstorms – wow – last week we had some monster storms at night. David Johnson told me we got like 4 inches of rain in a couple of days. I have to admit I’ve never been through a hurricane but I would imagine the sounds are similar. You wake in the middle of the night because the sound of the rain and wind is so loud as it beats on the house and roof. It was like a thousand people outside throwing endless buckets of water at the house. You couldn’t see out the windows – the rain was going sideways!!! Just and incredible experience.
“step back and just listen”. I hear you for sure. Being alone, I remember the rain storms in the middle of the night on the metal roof in Saba scared me for some reason, I’m sure it was because it was unknown (different), and didn’t know what to expect.
Anyway, I’m so glad you’re back, it’s about time! I work in the corporate world, use the breathing exercises every day along with meditation and prayers, and it does work!
Still planning to spend at least some of my retirement time on Saba, can hardly wait!!