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Friday, January 11, 2013

"Ocean"

What am I supposed to write about oceans?  My ocean is a Great Lake.  It’s not even the greatest of the Great Lakes, and has a bad reputation for pollution – though we’ve done wonders in cleaning it up since the Cuyahoga River caught fire back when.

I used to argue with my college roommate about ocean vs. lake.  She said I hadn’t lived until I’d seen the ocean.  I told her Lake Erie was better than the ocean.  It doesn’t have scary Linda-eating things living in it like the limitless depths of the ocean.  The lake is fresh water and you can’t see across it.  It has seagulls and waves.  We’ve got ocean-sized ships, and the Coast Guard protects us from unruly Canadians – okay, I’m pretty sure the Coast Guard’s main job is rescuing drunk boaters since Canadians seldom get unruly, but it is an international border.  What was different about the ocean, and why did I need to go?

One summer I went to the ocean, she went to the lake, and afterwards we both exclaimed enthusiastically about how right the other was about ocean vs. lake.  It just goes to show that we can have more joys and fewer prejudices the more we get out and live in the world.

When we look at the world from a narrow perspective, we might not be able to tell what we’re really seeing.  Is that the eyeball of something that would rip off your leg, or is it just a baby fish?

From an artistic point of view, sometimes we forget to let viewers figure things out on their own.  We don’t have to spell everything out.  It can be really boring when we do.  It’s like writing a murder mystery where the author tells you upfront who got killed by whom and why, and then you read the story.  Or maybe you tell someone the punch line of a joke, and then you tell the joke.  Okay, I’ve done that.  Telling jokes is harder for me than painting.

Sometimes the joy of living is being willing to see something from a different perspective.  One time I was having dinner with an extended family, one of whom I didn’t like very much.  He was one of those bombastic blowhards who eats all the mashed potatoes before anybody else gets a turn.  My buddy at the other end of the table took a different slant on the conversation, and just to be companionable, I took the other.  At some point, I said he had completely convinced me that he was right.  My buddy said “No, no, you’ve convinced me!” and we traded sides of the argument.  The mashed potato eater didn’t understand us at all.

Every argument has two sides, and there’s usually something worthwhile in each of those sides.  When we forget that, we dig in our heels and we don’t know how to find a common ground any more.

I’ll be the first to admit that I can be stubborn.  If I have an opinion, it’s usually because I’ve thought it over.  If I accept someone else’s opinion, then I have to do a lot of rewiring in my brain, and that seems like an awful lot of work when I thought I already had that issue settled.  It starts throwing in more questions about what is actually true, but it’s something we all ought to learn to do more often.  What if you took the other side of the argument?

22 comments:

  1. Haha, so that's why I get turned back at the border!

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    1. No, I had both a tape measure and a yardstick with me...

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  3. Great article! And so is the artwork! Being an island, Hokkaido is surrounded by at least three seas (Japan Sea, Pacific Ocean, Sea of Okhotsk), each with their own particular character. But we also have some very lovely lakes that I haven't had a chance to enjoy in aaaaages and ages. Must figure out a way to visit them this year... must must must

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  4. That's such a great fish picture! Love the colors and how darn cute they are!!! Nice write up as always :)

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  5. Ah ha ha Rand. Bet they were metric :)

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  6. It must be nice to have 3 oceans plus lakes to choose from Debbie. We should all make more time to spend with nature. Maybe I'll go visit the lake today. Thanks for the comments!

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  7. Living among the mountain folk for most of my life, oceans leave me pretty speechless. It is nice to see things from another's perspective. Sometimes.
    Cool fish!

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  8. I see that I've missed a lot of posts on your blog, Linda...but as always your words remain thoughtful, entertaining, sometimes feisty and always delightfully personal. I've lived near oceans (Pacific and Atlantic) and lake (Michigan) too, and though they each have their individual qualities, what they both evoke (for me) is that sense of 'little Me' vs something so much bigger, so much more mysterious. Love the fish eye close-up as your first image. :-)

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  9. The ocean makes me feel speechless and little too. Maybe that's a good thing so we don't get too fooled into thinking about our own importance? Thanks for the comments!

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  10. Love those fish Linda or are they flesh eating killers in disguise? As always a thought provoking post... I must admit that too often people don't hear both sides of a story or argument before they judge. Happy Monday .
    Jane x

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  11. Linda, what a delightful drawing-painting, picture of the school of fish! It really looks watery, and it is funny too to see those fish so neatly organized together. I hope you agree with me they look very cute! :-)

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  12. I spent large portions of my summers as a child staring at the ocean in Atlantic City, NJ.

    You ain't missing much.

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  14. I'm trying to determine what "I" see in your painting; a discombobulated fish? The eye is a little haunting, yet attractive.

    Looking at a situation from the other person's point of view; trying to argue his or her point - sounds like a good experiment. I've often tried to put myself in someone's shoes, wondering how they feel, but not to argue it out. Hmmm...

    Unlike Josh, I never tire of looking at the ocean. I've been at different parts of it from the dark water of NJ down to the greenish tint of FL, and even down to Puerto Rico. I've seen the Pacific, too. For me, I can't go wrong with water - love it! So, a great lake will work, too.

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    1. In my defense, Anita, I get tired looking at a lot of things.

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  15. I've never gotten tired of looking at water either, though I started getting rather crazy looking at sky when I was out in the plains states. To each their own? My brother couldn't seem to get enough sky. Maybe I should try arguing for sky over ocean sometime :) Thanks for the comments!

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  16. There's something about a body of water, that puts balance in my life, so I volley between having to be near water then mountains! :) I love how you tied this post together with the concept of opinions, but do I dare say, I might be more stubborn than you? Should we debate it? LOL! I don't think we have that much time in life for that one...thanks for giving me a unique way of looking at the difference of opinions. :)

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  17. I know exactly what you write about here, Linda. There is always two sides of a coin, and there is almost always more to learn if we open our eyes to the other side. But do I hate to admit that I am wrong - even slightly!

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  18. No energy this week to test the strength of our stubbornness Indigene! I'll be happy to duel with you another day. Sounds like Otto might like to match wills too :D

    Thanks for the follow Sopas!!!

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    1. We just need to agree upon the ground...

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  19. Having bathed in the gulf of mexico and the atlantic ocean I prefer the great lakes. No one told me to keep my mouth shut when I jumped into the ocean. That was awful. No one told me there was so much coral on the Gulf side I would cut my feet up when I jumped into it. My family always had a cottage on the beach of Lake Erie when I was young and I can still remember all the good times I hade there. Except for the time my mom threw me in and let the waves take me out when I was 5. Yes I learned how to swim because of it. to me I think the Oceans and the great lakes have a lot to offer. I wouldn't trade my experience for anything even when I was a runaway in 1979 in Key West. Best time ever.

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