Waves upon waves

When contemplating my work, I am very aware of energy waves as I naturally channel and am mindful of them. I have always had an affinity for the sea and the fact that these are energy waves only occurred to me recently. We are so used to understanding them as just ‘waves’. Waves are literal energy in action and can provide insight into the forces of the universe.

I watched a fascinating documentary recently, The Secret Life of Waves, BBC, 2010, presented by David Malone. This was ostensibly about the physics of wave forms that make up bodies of water but for me completed a circle of curiosity I have always had. Once the science of wave fomrs was explained, it is easy to comprehend and understand the science beyond the fact that all energy is in wave form; from sound waves, to ocean waves, to light waves and energy waves. I guess the clue is in the title – the word wave, which is a wavelength. All waves are connected in this way.

I often try to explain to people who do not understand spiritual energy that they only have to ask themselves if they have ever felt an unseen connection to another person – to find someone on the same wavelength, literally. And like attracts like. If everyone could physically see the personal energy of humans, they would most likely make different choices in human relationships. Our awareness of this energy can often be subconscious, we can sense that like attracts like and feel a harmonious connection that we are not necessarily consciously aware of.

Waves are in fact a process, not a tangible object. To quote Heraclitus:

“Everything flows and nothing endures.”

The touchstone of Heraclitus' philosophy concentrated upon flux and the unity of opposites. He is reported to have said that all things come into being by conflict of opposites, and that the sum of things flows like a stream. He felt that which dwells within us is both living and dead, waking and sleeping, young and old, that nothing is static, and cold things heat, which then cools, wet becomes dry and dry becomes wet.

Heraclitus' doctrine on the unity of opposites suggests that the unity of the world has polar substances that contain its opposite, in a continual circular exchange and motion that results in the stability of the cosmos.

Waves certainly highlight this continual state of flux and process, with the energy created incapable of being destroyed, only transmuted. However, our own human life cycle is a dynamic process of change, it is a process and not static – like a series of waves that we surf.

We are hardwired to perceive the world as full of objects and not processes, waves remind us that the world is full of transformative energy. The world is a permanent exchange of energy, as is the universe.

Energy dissipation as the moment of physical death is like the breaking of a wave, energy meeting its ultimate destination. But if we know it cannot be destroyed and only transmuted then where does that physical presence go?

We are not just metaphorically like a wave, in some important and scientific way, we are the wave.

When I next looked at the film I recently created for my forthcoming exhibition, I realised I had subconsciously superimposed the energy waves of my paintings on top of literal waves. Perhaps on some subconscious level I already knew all of this to be true. Waves upon waves – a certain circularity of creative and spiritual thought.