THE OCTOPUS ANALOGY

During the peak period of the pandemic, I took it upon myself to watch a documentary that focused exclusively on a film maker and his relationship with an unusual sea creature, the octopus. Truthfully, I am generally not a fan of television programs that profile a life story of organisms from the ocean. This exception has proven otherwise.

As the author of six unconventional spiritual memoirs, I was struggling with a blueprint that could properly explain a seventh memoir centering on planned afterlife challenges. Miraculously,  watching the Netflix presentation, My Octopus Teacher, became the answer; the gift. It was the starting point of an abstract picture of complex soul energy that I had been exposed to in previous writings. My exclusive writing of The Octopus Analogy was born.

From the very beginning of the documentary, I saw how comparable all of us are to this mysterious and misunderstood water creature. The octopus is an extremely intelligent living entity, whose origin goes back more than 290 million years. With three hearts, nine brains, eight arms, and two eyes, the octopus is like no other living deep-sea resident. This magnificent being is completely changeable, impressively adaptive, and always craving more from its underwater world.

I was mesmerized with how the female octopus moved with such incredible agility and fluidity while energetically expanding herself beyond what was ordinary. For instance, to secure her safety, she always operated well outside the boundaries of what I would consider obvious.

It was uplifting to watch her move about the rubble of the ocean floor; ever resourceful, constantly seeking more from what was understood to be a dangerous and predictably shortened life. Consistently, she appeared to dance along the ocean bottom in a graceful, ghost-like manner, while performing nimble behaviors that continually appeared strategic in their make-up.

Throughout, I continually thought of all of us as I observed her uncertain life journey. I found myself envious of how comfortable, yet totally observant, her life became, as she risked her wellbeing in unorthodox ways. I often thought how challenged she must be; endlessly seeking a lifestyle only she could create or have imagined.

In watching her, I began to consider how similar life challenges occupy our minds; how, with increased familiarity, our guarded moments can turn out better than any of us expected. Like My Octopus Teacher, what unfolds beyond this life is unknown, yet, with a closeness and open-hearted awareness, there is plenty of support for what is rarely expected.

In the end, I believe the picturesque world of The Octopus Analogy will enable readers to uniquely examine what is both witnessed and unnoticed. We will see how the mental pictures we courageously allow in our minds form an understanding of unique possibilities. These are the opportunities that might exist both in this world and any hereafter that we might imagine.

My Octopus Teacher has many unspoken messages. The most powerful one is the belief in oneself, with the enthusiastic adaptability to remove all uncertainty. Contained within this unique sea creature’s life, there were no misgivings. She simply decided to make what a reasonable human would classify as unthinkable – to literally grow a new arm. She had zero doubt regarding what she could create and operated every moment of her life in that fashion. If only we could consider doing the same.