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  "description": "Why waves are the best metaphor for our true nature that you'll ever come across 🌊",
  "path": "/waves-on-the-ocean/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-05T06:00:33.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gilespcroft.com",
  "tags": [
    "last week's Sunday Spiritual",
    "on my watch",
    "The Secret Life of Waves",
    "Just a Thought",
    "our podcast episode",
    "it gets occasionally aired",
    "EP94: Grief and Death with Giles CroftPodcast Episode · Changeable Podcast · 4 May 2020 · 52minApple Podcasts",
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "In last week's Sunday Spiritual, as I was trying to describe something _without_ form using the tools of form that I have at my disposal (i.e. language; imagery), I made a bit of a sideways mention of waves.\n\nWhen I said that experience was happening ‘on my watch’ I had to then try and describe what the ‘me’ that actually _experiences_ this ‘watch’ is, and the best I could do was this:\n\n> _“This localised manifestation; this wave on the ocean of vibrating energy that we collectively label as a ‘Giles’ has a view on things – a perspective, or ‘watch’.”_\n\n## Waves are a brilliant metaphor\n\nI was first alerted to the metaphor of waves—as a description of who we really are—by a friend, who let me know about the BBC Scotland documentary, The Secret Life of Waves, just after my mum died. She said it would give me a completely different perspective on life and death, and boy was she right?!\n\nIt's absolutely flabbergasting, and I have watched it many times.\n\nWhat set out to be a scientific exploration of the physics of waves, coincided with the terminal illness of the documentary-maker's mother, which meant that all sorts of parallels are drawn between the very obvious, study-able, visible nature of waves, and our essential nature as spiritual beings having a human experience.\n\nSome amazing facts from the documentary:\n\n  * You can **track waves** , unbroken, from one side of an ocean, all the way to the other 😳\n  * In spite of this, the water _associated_ with a wave **does not actually travel anywhere** (it just kind of wobbles, in place) 😲\n  * This means that a wave you're witnessing as a solid object that clearly moves from one place to another (I mean, you can surf them!) is **not an object** at all, it's a _process._ What you're witnessing is a transfer of _energy_ , in wave-form 🤯\n  * When the wave breaks, the energy (which can neither be created, nor destroyed, remember) dissipates mostly as sound. The whole thing is just **made of energy** … taking a temporary form 🫠\n\n\n\nAnd all of this 👆🏻 just happens to be pretty much the best description of a human being going.\n\nMind. Blown.\n\nIt's why you'll find numerous mentions of waves in spiritual circles, for instance:\n\nA selection of wave-related imagery, snaffled from various part of the Internet.\n\nAnd if you're wondering where you've heard this before, then yes, the chapter of Amy Johnson's book Just a Thought, where she talks about _‘Objects and Processes’_ was written _after_ she and I had a long conversation about this documentary, during the recording of our podcast episode on grief and death!\n\nI recommend seeking out the documentary (it gets occasionally aired) and you can catch me and Amy talking about life and death and grief, below too.\n\n💟\n\nGiles\n\nSIGN UP FOR THE DAILY REMINDERS newsletter\n\nWant to start __every__ day with helpful, insightful content like this? The Daily Reminder is a quick, lighthearted email that arrives in your inbox every morning, to help keep you grounded in reality, so that you get to __‘Think less, and live more.’__\n\n __“They feel like a moment of stillness in a world of madness.” ~__ Neil, UK\n\n __“One of those small things with big impact. Honestly, just sign up!”__ ~ Paula, UK\n\nGET YOURS NOW\n\n## Listen 🎧\n\nEP94: Grief and Death with Giles CroftPodcast Episode · Changeable Podcast · 4 May 2020 · 52minApple Podcasts\n\nIt's a bit raw—Mum had died just a few weeks previously—but it's the gold standard 3 Principles chat about death and grief.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "Waves on the ocean",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-01T14:56:35.892Z"
}