Blogs

A gift from a child with sea-blue eyes and hair the color sand

Posted by Elizabeth Cusova

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sandcastle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea.

“Hello,” she said. I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child. “I’m building,” she said.

“I see that. What is it?” I asked, not caring.

“Oh, I don’t know, I just like the feel of sand.

“That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided by.

“That’s a joy,” the child said.

“It’s a what?”

“It’s a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy.” The bird went glding down the beach.

“Good-bye joy,” I muttered to myself, “hello pain,” and turned to walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance.

“What’s your name?” She wouldn’t give up.

“Ruth,” I answered. “I’m Ruth Peterson.”

“Mine’s Wendy… I’m six.”

“Hi, Wendy.”

She giggled. “You’re funny,” she said. In spite of my gloom I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me.

“Come again, Mrs. P,” she called. “We’ll have another happy day.”

The days and weeks that followed belong to others: a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and ailing mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. “I need a sandpiper,” I said to myself, gathering up my coat. The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me.

The breeze was chilly, but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed. I had forgotten the child and was startled when she appeared.

“Hello, Mrs. P,” she said. “Do you want to play?”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, with a twinge of annoyance.

“I don’t know, you say.”

“How about charades?” I asked sarcastically.

The tinkling laughter burst forth again. “I don’t know what that is.”

“Then let’s just walk.” Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face
“Where do you live?” I asked.

“Over there.” She pointed toward a row of summer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter.

“Where do you go to school?”

“I don’t go to school. Mommy says we’re on vacation.” She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day.

Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed. Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home.

“Look, if you don’t mind,” I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, “I’d rather be alone today.”
She seems unusually pale and out of breath.

“Why?” she asked.

I turned to her and shouted, “Because my mother died!” and thought, my God, why was I saying this to a little child?

“Oh,” she said quietly, “then this is a bad day.”

“Yes, and yesterday and the day before and-oh, go away!”

“Did it hurt? ”

“Did what hurt?” I was exasperated with her, with myself.

“When she died?” “Of course it hurt!” I snapped, misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strode off. A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn’t there. Feeling guilty, ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey-colored hair opened the door.

“Hello,” I said. “I’m Ruth Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was.”

“Oh yes, Mrs. Peterson, please come in” “Wendy talked of you so much.

I’m afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please, accept my apologies.”

“Not at all-she’s a delightful child,” I said, suddenly realizing that I meant it. “Where is she?”

“Wendy died last week, Mrs. Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn’t tell you.” Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. My breath caught.

“She loved this beach; so when she asked to come, we couldn’t say no.

She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly…” her voice faltered.

“She left something for you…if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?”

I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something, anything, to say to this lovely young woman. She handed me a smeared envelope, with MRS. P printed in bold, childish letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues-a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed:

A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY

Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide. I took Wendy’s mother in my arms. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I muttered over and over, and we wept together.

The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words- one for each year of her life- that speak to me of harmony, courage, undemanding love. A gift from a child with sea-blue eyes and hair the color sand— who taught me the gift of love. Ruth Peterson

They are the organs of vision. The mirror of the soul. They do not only collect impressions from the outside but also express any emotion and feeling that is experienced from the inside. Through the eyes, we recognize immediately emotions like anger, fear, or love. The eyes represent the ability that one has to approach life and see others. All eye diseases tell us of our inability to see life objectively, they highlight our view and our way of seeing things and situations as they really are.

Cornea: In the front of the eyeball there is a transparent membrane, like the glass of a watch, called the cornea. The cornea with the lens focuses the light entering the eye.

Keratitis (inflammation of the cornea), Conflict of visual separation:

"I lose eye contact with my beautiful girlfriend”

Conflict of forced contact: "I'm forced to see ... all day”

"I'm very upset, I have anger and courage for something I saw”

"I want to hit the first thing that I see".

"I want to harm...”

Herpetic keratoconjunctivitis: "What I see makes me dirty”

Keratoconus: Alteration of the curvature of the cornea, which takes a conical shape. If I have keratoconus in one or both eyes, necessarily, it means that I have lived a conflict in which I wanted or have actually achieved that people around me do not see what is inside me. I do not want to show that I am weak, vulnerable, kind, etc. Fear of being myself for fear of being rejected. Afraid to show my weaknesses. Inability to reveal my feelings.

Obsessed, I hide some of my personality. "I do not want others to see what is inside me” "What is inside should not be seen from outside".

"Nobody protects me from what I see. My eyes are put under a protective wing. "

Fear. Insecurity. Distrust. Shame.

Dry lachrymal glands: "Wanting to catch the eye". Fear of not being able to catch the moment, in the sense of not being able to see what we would like it to happen.

Conflict of inability to make one thing we like to see, that is, visually not catch/get something.

The absence of tears perhaps it may be because the person is prevented of mourning, he/she refuses to express his/her emotions.

"It is forbidden to mourn, to express feelings, to let someone else see them” Often, these are people who try to hide their great sensitivity because they are afraid of being taken advantage of them.

It may also be of angry eyes, who refuse to forgive, to look with love.

"I see all furiously, because they are not as I want to be".

"I see all furiously, because they do what I want to do"

"I'm disappointed and hurt".

Ulcers: Severe visual separation. "Losing someone from our view"

Scleritis: The sclera protects and maintains the shape of the eye.

Conflict of protection in a visual tone. Protection from what we see.

Devaluation by a (visual) territory that we are losing and we feel powerless to defend it (intolerable).

Chalazion: Meibomian gland is a cyst in the eyelid caused by inflammation of a blocked meibomian gland, located close to the lashes, usually on the upper eyelid. It differs from a sty that they are not painful.

A meibomian gland secretes the fatty substance of the tear film, which is a protection for the eye. There has been an excess of demand for protection, and this has blocked the duct.

Conflict spot by something I see, either abroad or in myself.

Devaluation conflict: Not wanting to see more of passive, childlike way.

Conflict of blindly trusting in something or someone who failed us: "I should be alert".

Conflicts with the vision we have of religion.

Dishonour conflict and separation: "It's wrong not to see him/her again"

Stye: Conflict of separation and dishonour and something we have seen and made us feel dirty.

"I've seen one thing I did not like anything"

"I feel dirty for something disgusting that I had to see"

"I have problems in my marriage or with my partner"

"I saw something that made me angry"

"I just like to see things that interest me"

Eye pain: We will not see what is happening. Pain causes us what we're seeing.

Attempt to escape from life as we accept see how it is.

Exophthalmia or large googly eyes: The muscles around the eyes are in a permanent state of shock, reflect an expression of fear experienced as a result of childhood experiences. Conflict dam which increases their visual field to see the danger coming and escape in time. "I must catch the image of danger as quickly as possible”

Blindness: Conflict of the ostrich. When it is afraid, an ostrich prefers not to see anything and hides its head under the sand; where everything is black, and cannot see anything, and solved, no problems!

Was it necessary to see the day?

Was it necessary to hide my presence in the mother's womb?

Because of a shock, trauma, etc., we refuse to see, in order to avoid confrontation with reality. We do not want to accept what the eyes tell us.

Eyelids: Conflict of motor function. You cannot see and not see, at the same time.

Blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelids): The eyelids are like a curtain that closes to protect from external aggression, to rest or not to see. Inflammation often comes from an anger for something that we are seeing and cause us pain. "That hurts my eyes”

Motor conflict: Related to the children, the neighbour, with our identity.

"I cannot see without being seen” "He's my son!".

There is disappointment or difficulty in something visual: "I do not want to see, I do not want to see...” related to the children or to something symbolically considered "childish" as a book, a painting, etc.

Our identity, what we want to be or what we want to and what we do not want to happen. We are not accepting some of our past and we see it again in the present. We had forgotten something, we see it again reflected in our children...

Conflict of "dirty vision" related to seduction. We want something but at the same time, we tried to stop ourselves. "I see something that stains me".

We prefer not to see the day that begins, not face life, for lack of ideas.

It can manifest itself in blepharitis those people who refuse to close the eyelids to rest or sleep, for their anxiety to see everything not granted.

Or those which, by excess of activity, and not having any help, nor have a deserved rest; which irritates them enough. We do not protect adequately against external aggression, that is to say, that we easily let ourselves be influenced by what we see.

Blepharoptosis or palpebral ptosis (drooping eyelids) is the manifestation of great sadness ... as when the curtain is lowered.

Conflict of impotence for something we see. Refusing to look at this world considered as childish and immature. Resignation.

Conflict of "danger". Not being able to see things that seem horrible, ugly or aggressive: "I cannot go back to see my son, my country, etc”.

In women, it usually appears in the left eye and speaks of apathy and sadness, in her marital relations, having chosen a husband who disappoints her. It may also indicate a problem with the child.

Similarly you can refer another person to which you want to avoid seeing.

"You can see and not see at once” "We cannot see without being seen”

Ectropion: The eyelid (most frequently, the bottom one) is folded or twisted in the opposite direction the eye surface. This causes dryness and irritation of the conjunctiva of the eyelid.

Open your eyes to maintain a vision on the environment.

Conflict of fear of being alone or abandoned by something we see or related to the vision of something.

Conflict of fear of death, what lies beyond, to sense everything (spiritual vision).

Terrible conflict and ambiguous relationship with the father or whoever performs the paternal function on us.

Entropion: It is the investment of an edge of an eyelid, causing the eyelashes to rub against the eye. In most cases it is observed in the lower eyelid.

We close our eyes to not see something unpleasant.

Separation conflict, being ignored.

Controversy vision of something that is attacking us.

Conflict of relationship with the people around me, because the people who matter most to me (parents and family) have not looked after me enough and have not put their attention on me. I have not had physical signs of affection.

Gravis: Conflict of impotence for something we see.

Trichiasis: The tabs are bent towards the eye irritating the conjunctiva.

Separation conflict and guilt.

We maintain our view of biased way, because we feel guilty of "seeing or being seen”

Conflict of the father’s protection.

Amblyopia: Amblyopia, also called lazy eye, is defined as a decrease in visual acuity without there being any organic injury to justify it.

Conflict: "I want to join what I see separately”

Nystagmus or ocular parkinson: To some extent, it is a kind of parkinson disease in the eye. Controversy wipers. Nystagmus is an involuntary and uncontrolled eye movement. The movement can be horizontal, vertical, rotary, oblique or a combination of these.

Nystagmus is associated with a malfunction in brain areas that are responsible for controlling movement. Those affected with nystagmus often put their head in an abnormal position to improve their vision, annulling as possible the effect produced by the movement of the eyes.

Emotional conflict: "I cannot look straight things, the danger comes from different parts". "I do not know where to look" "Survival depends on my balance; I have to stay stable" "I must watch the entire width of my territory".

Retina: The retina is the layer of light-sensitive found in the inner back of the eye and acts like the film in a camera: images pass through the lens of the eye and are focused on the retina. The retina then converts these images into electrical signals and sends them via the optic nerve to the brain. The retina is normally red due to its rich blood supply.

Retinal detachment: Intense Conflict, visual image of stress. Example: The child falls off before our eyes. The adult feels horror at such image, but the view is protected.

The retina prints... "I do not want to print what I have seen” "Feeling of having seen something terrible” A small child who does not have this protection mechanism, remains fascinated by the horrible things he/she sees. When we are struck, the child prints the image on his/her retina. Later, with all his/her stress concentrated in vision, he/she will suffer a retinal detachment.

Fear that comes from behind. What can fall on me? "The danger is coming from behind”

Macular retinopathy: This is the alteration of the capillaries of the macula (the central retina).

Stop seeing a person or thing irreversibly.

"Seeing a family member die".

Retinitis pigmentosa: Too much pigment in the retina. Melanin accumulates in the back of the eye. It is the visual equivalent of melanoma: vision of horror, ugly, nasty, with stain vision. "I've seen my father/mother with another".

Colour blindness: It consists of not seeing a colour, the relationship with a fact that is stressful. Example: alcoholic father, addicted to red wine. Red = horror, fear.

Recommendations to recover physical, emotional and spiritual health:

What don’t I want to see? Am I able to see things as they are?

Am I afraid to see things clearly? What aspect of my personality do I close my eyes with?

We must be tolerant of what we see around us.

We must be aware that nothing will change in our lives refusing to see.

Any problem in the view is a message of our soul, which warns of an error in our learning and prevents us from realizing our life plan.

The eyes are to see both what we like what we dislike.

We must develop the ability to put ourselves in the place of another, to grasp the reality of his/her view and better understand the basics of their actions.

If the problem affects the right eye, will be related to the symbolism Yin (the mother). It represents my identity. It is the eye of recognition of emotion (which shows my affections). Memorize. Compare the known and unknown faces. It represents the recognition they give to others. It is related to our parents, our children, friends, etc.

If it is the left eye which is affected, it is related to the symbolism Yang (the father). It is the eye that directs the movement. Look at enemies. Look how far to shoot. It is the eye that warns us of any threats near and defends us from danger.

www.emotionsandbody.com