View from the Pier

There is just one life for each of us: our own.
- Euripides, 485-406 B.C.

Marsaxlokk, Malta

This image was captured in Marsaxlokk Bay on the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean.  If seen from the seat of an airplane, Malta’s outline resembles that of a fish, and Marsaxlokk Bay is at its “mouth.”   Home to about 70% of the Maltese fishing fleet, the harbor is like a bowl of beautifully-wrapped candy, with scores of vibrantly-painted boats in hues of yellow, red, blue, green and brown, all nestled side-by-side.  The bows of many boats are painted with the symbol of the “eyes of Osiris,” a practice believed to have been inherited from a civilization that once called Malta home, the Phoenicians, a Mediterranean trading culture dominant between 1550 – 300 B.C.

I felt like the proverbial kid in the candy store prowling around the perimeter of the harbor with my camera.  The water was strung with boat upon boat, bow to stern across the crowded bay, fishermen calling to each other as they unloaded their catch. With each step, my eyes were drawn in a dozen different directions, jumping across the intersecting angles, the scene an ever-changing kaleidoscope of primary colors.

Before me, in a traditional Maltese fishing boat called a luzzu, a fisherman cut a line with his teeth.  To his right, a man tugged on one of the piles of blue and green nets he seemed swaddled in.  To his left, an old salt took lunch out of a paper bag.  Behind him, the dark head of young fisherman popped up from below board, and scanned the horizon.

The luzzu depicted above struck a chord with me. The symmetry of the boat’s lines, the neatly-organized boots and slicker, laid out like clothes before the first day of school.  The imagery made me think of destiny–was there in fact a great cosmic plan unfolding, and I was just along for the ride?

I wondered about the boat’s owner.  Was his life as well-ordered as his gear?  Was his existence as simple and predictable as his craft and its contents seemed to intimate?  If so, was that a blessing he was thankful for, or a fate he resented?  At times knowing what is expected of me can make life easier, and at other times, the hair on the back of my neck can stand up when I think I don’t have choices.

I also know a life lived on the water is one at the mercy of the forces of Nature, which is anything but predictable.  My response to uncertain or chaotic circumstances is to fiercely attempt to structure what I can–I know I am feeling things are “out of control” when I begin making lists!  My attempts to rein life in is generally an exercise in delusional futility, but one that can sometimes make me feel better, if only briefly!

The human psyche and life’s uncertainty were themes Euripides explored.  A free thinker in his day, among the Greek playwright’s legacies to the world stage was introducing strong women and the common man as characters.  He is credited with pioneering the genres of love stories and comedy.

Living his own life was not a picnic for Euripides.  His spirit of innovation and his unwillingness to kowtow to judges of the festivals where dramatists’ works of the day were presented meant he won a total of five first place awards in his lifetime.  The first of these came fourteen years after his career began; the last, posthumous.  In comparison, his contemporary Aeschylus took first prize 13 times; another peer, Sophocles, was recognized with 18 firsts.  For Euripides, doing it his way meant composing his tragedies in a dark cave while each of his two successive wives committed adultery.  He died after being attacked by a pack of dogs.

Yikes!

Whatever role the Fates give us is ours to play–however, today I realize that while I may be steered in a certain direction, I also have choices.  The current phase of my journey was inspired by winning my own “first prize” in a professional competition.  An achievement that had seemed life-and-death to me was suddenly a big, fat “So what?” when announced at a black-tie gala at New York’s Tavern on the Green.  That moment of deflation led me to ask myself: what was the life I wanted to lead?

Daring to cast my net in new waters, more willingness to go where the tide takes me, while doing my share of rowing day in and out, has all moved me closer to the life I believe I was meant to live.

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