addendum

I feel it would be good for me to briefly expand upon this realization I had with the oyster shell.

I was just sitting on the beach feeling sort of bad. I'd found myself a little sand hollow on the top of a grassy dune to sit and sunbathe. It was warm and clear and there were so many sailboats out on the water. I had earlier disappointed someone dear to me and so I found myself pondering things done wrong and "things wrong with me" as I absentmindedly buried my hands in the sand - like you do when you let someone down. I was feeling a bit broken. (Except more than a bit, because feelings with me are always a bit more than a bit ;) My hand was deep in the sand when it felt something cool and substantial - I thought a stone, but when I pulled it up it was the oyster shell. Its edges seemed harsh and jagged and with a glance over it before I tossed it aside I assessed it as broken. Then before I could think a small voice popped into my head and said,

"Here's the thing about the oyster shell-- it may seem like it's broken, but it's actually whole." 

So I fetched the oyster shell for an inspection and as you might guess, found it unbroken. Completely unbroken. Certainly not missing large parts of itself as I had thought upon first sight. A few small chips in it's many delicate scales perhaps, but no one could call it broken.

And the significance of this was not lost on me that day. It filled my entire being. Or emptied it maybe. I expanded. I was the oyster shell. We're all the oyster shell!

ZEN MOMENT ACHIEVED!!

And so my heart was warmed and I felt immense gratitude for this beautiful metaphor that had been gifted to me by the oyster shell. A paradox that applied to myself and my feelings that afternoon, but also in my mind applies to everyone, everywhere, ever. We all have wounds but they can't keep us from being whole. We're whole just the way we are, we just don't always see it.

Peace, bro. c;