162 – Whole

Click the video above for 2 minutes of background waves while reading.

I like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

I walked this morning and just finished lunch. During my morning walk, thoughts about “the big picture” were tumbling around my brain. Those morning thoughts are coalescing because I am sitting on the 11th-floor balcony looking at the beach and the sea.

From high above the beach, I can see the long expanse of sand where I walk. I see a beach with tire tracks of the beach patrol and strings of footprints – but I cannot tell which are mine. All that beach sand, but I cannot see one single grain. Not one – but I know there are many. Besides, that is common knowledge, and I was there a short time ago.

As I look from above, the area of dunes separating the buildings and the beach, I see shrubs and sea oats holding the dune in place, but differentiating and identifying individual stems is difficult. However, the long dune area and its plants parallel to the beach are obvious.

I saw many shells on my morning walk, and I anticipate seeing more during my walk in the opposite direction this afternoon. But from here, not only can I not see one shell, I am unable to positively identify a dense patch of shells – but maybe over there. Maybe! However, as I look at the long stretch of sand, I can see the wrack line, and I know shells will be there.

Today the sea is calm and relatively smooth. Although I can see and hear the waves coming ashore, the smoothness of the water extends to the horizon. Maybe not as a smooth countertop because of the rolling swales, but the scene provides an eclectic design of similar shades of blue with a sparkling streak caused by the sun. The streaks appear as a meandering river with tributaries for reasons I do not know. Streaks that don’t appear to be moving, but I know they are.

Some colors of the sea are different closer to the shore. That sandbar is obvious – and that one too. I wonder if that dark patch is a cluster of seaweed. But when I walk, the water is emerald green – not the blue I see from this balcony.

The sound from up here is different than when I walk. The sound of individual waves is less distinct. The sound is more steady with slight changes in volume. To me, the sound is more stereophonic – and as a sound moving left to right, but sometimes right to left. The sound from the 11th floor is more soothing – less brash and less jolting than along the shoreline.

I see the white foam washing onto the sand and then retreating to the sea. The white foam appears as a white collar on a blue shirt. But I cannot see the individual bubbles or hear their gentle pops that touched my feet earlier. Yet, I know they are there.

I’m above the birds that I see in flight, yet notice a seagull’s shadow on the sand flying near the waterline. There seems to be a sole pelican floating on the water far offshore. No way can I see the small sanderlings and their fast feet.

I write this long introductory view to share a conceptual view – the whole – the big picture.

Going from the big picture to the details is similar to using a tool such as Google Earth. First, we see the planet with the surrounding black background of space. We see land, water, and patches of clouds – plus identify continents and certain countries by their shape.

As we zoom closer, we can identify states or regions – even rivers, mountains, large lakes, and deserts. Continuing to zoom in, we can identify a city or town. Once closer, we see our neighborhood, then our street, and eventually our house with a car in the driveway.

Although details are important, so is the big picture because that is where learners make important connections.

How often do we get down into the weeds of details, yet forget the big picture? The Periodic Table of Elements views a neutral atom of aluminum with 13 protons and 13 electrons located in three shells with three of the electrons found in the outer shell – but that view is not about the importance of the aluminum can and its role in our society.

As a former biology teacher, I know biology classes are known for being very vocabulary-driven – providing numerous details and exposing more new words to students than the foreign language class down the hall. We get caught up in terms such as replication, centrioles, asters, prophase, anaphase, metaphase, and telophase – all words I have never heard outside my classroom. That focus is not that in order to create two new cells, chromosomes must replicate, line up in the center, then move apart into two new cells that are identical to the original – so now let’s learn about growth and cancer that certainly is in the news and student experiences.

There is an appropriate time for going deep into the weeds of details, but being able to make connections across the main concept is important to the general public. Whereas I’m looking at the broad concept of what I see, all the individual units act as an ensemble. I think of what I see as a symphony played by an orchestra of many instruments that work together to produce a masterful performance.

The big picture is a conceptual view that is fundamental to understanding breadth and depth. Today, I tried to demonstrate that with a view from the 11th-floor balcony. Meanwhile, it’s time for my afternoon walk in the opposite direction on the beach because it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have posted about Whole

• Big Picture (a poem)
• The Whole View (a haibun)
• Just Look Up (a short essay with images)
• Conceptual Watercolor Painting (an essay with paintings)

Next Post: Reflection v2 – Saturday 17th December @ 1 AM (Eastern US