“I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’ garden in the shade
We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an octopus’ garden near a cave”
♫ The Beatles: Octopus’s Garden ♫
Because octopuses collect stones and shiny objects, to decorate their gardens.
Our safe world under water
The outside world
What if we don’t have to choose?
We can see the rainbow without leaving the water.
Stop worrying and look around!
“You are the drop, and the ocean.
You are kindness, you are anger
You are sweetness, you are poison”
– Rumi
Love is so big, it encompasses contradictions. Distinction only exists on the surface. We think we’re individuals, mere drops, but billions of drops disappear when they merge into the ocean.
“All this multiformity is one: whoever sees double is a squint-eyed manikin.”
– Rumi
Rather than difference between, we need to learn to see difference within. ‘Difference’ often means distinction. X is X. Y is Y. X is not Y. But an individual (thing) can contain difference; X can contain Y. Difference, then, creates unity, instead of distinction.
When we see the octopus popping out of the ocean, what does she tell us?
“Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret, and in exchange gain the Ocean.”
– Rumi