The Magic of the Kaleidoscope

posted in: Deven's Journey | 4

The kaleidoscope is an optical instrument we learned and made in science class in elementary school to see incredibly vibrant, colorful images. The kaleidoscope is also our real-life with its evolving patterns of colors, stories, dreams, goals, challenges, agonies, and ecstasies in a figurative sense. The kaleidoscope is also the entire universe. In this blog post, I share my experience and thoughts on these colors.

We Enjoy the Music - 2
Crystal Lake in San Gabriel Mountains - Enjoyed Hiking there last Fall

Kaleidoscope – Optical Instrument

I vividly remember making and enjoying a kaleidoscope in our 5th-grade class. It had a cylindrical shape of about an inch in diameter and a length of 6-8 inches. While looking through it from one of the ends showed terrific colors and patterns. As I slowly rotated it, I saw imagery with an eclectic range of unique shapes and color combinations that would emerge. I think the fascinating part was the symmetry and balance of colors with each pattern.

We put a few colorful pieces of glass bangles inside three rectangular mirrors angled in a triangular position inside a thick paper cylinder or a tube. The repeated reflections of the glass pieces between the three mirrors gave symmetry to the patterns. The glass pieces fall and stumble in different positions with rotation, creating a shift in the designs. A kaleidoscope can have more than three mirrors to see even more intricate magic of symmetry and colors.

Colors in a kaleidoscope
Colors in a Kaleidoscope
Colors in a kaleidoscope - 2
Kaleidoscope - Repeated Reflections among Angled Mirrors Give Symmetry to Color Patterns
Colors in a kaleidoscope - 3
Colors in a kaleidoscope - 4

Fascinating Wonders

It was a fun science class to understand the fascinating wonders of light reflection, refraction, and dispersion. I got to see, and see-through, a periscope. We learned about different wavelength component colors that make up white light, and how a prism breaks them, and how rainbows show up in the sky on a rainy overcast day. When I see a sunset or a sunrise with an evolving palette of colors on the horizon, I understand it is also refracting light waves.

Tune in, listen to voice from inside - be content - softer, lighter footprints
Sunrise Near La Cañada Flintridge | Image: Courtesy of Nilesh 😀
This moment - Be a witness
Sunset | From our Recent Hiking to Jenks Lake in the Big Bear | Image: Courtesy of Jay 😀
Deven's Journey - Being in the Moment
Captured this Rainbow during our Visit to the Yellow Stone National Park Many Years Ago
Shades of my Thinking - Big Picture Perspective
Jenks Lake, Big Bear
Devens Journey - Power and Appeal of Emotions - Emotional Intelligence
Early Morning at Madison River, Yellow Stone | Sounds of River, and Vibrant effect of Sunrays over Water Made a Lasting Imprint within Tranquility of the Ambiance
Laguna Beach | I Can't Get Enough Pictures of the Sunset Views There
Sun and clouds and rays of light
From Hiking to Robber's Roost Last Week | Blessed to be Able to Go there and Return in an Hour

The Kaleidoscope of Life 😀

Connecting with that experience and colors, life is a kaleidoscope, and every day is like a rotation, emerging with the magic of evolving patterns and colors. That is, both literally and figuratively.

The variety of the glass pieces and the number of mirrors in the kaleidoscope of my life are limitless and are ever-evolving:

  • Creative ideas and work that I see from others – that may be in a presentation, or a painting, or a photograph, or an interior design
  • Ideas and possibilities that we look forward to – dreams, goals
  • Innovations I learn about almost every day that solve problems and open up new possibilities.
  • Experiences, relationships, and memories from the past – what they create and reflect in my inner landscape
  • Colors in nature
  • Conversations with family and friends
  • Cultivation and shift in perspective I get from books and movies.
  • The interplay of sun rays with mountains and beaches, creating an eclectic range of colors.
  • Developing, articulating, and communicating ideas, learning and seeing pictures from others’ perspectives
  • Developments and events that bring up a new set of challenges, opportunities, possibilities
  • Case in the previous point – Covid19 is hovering so imposingly colossal all over us right now
  • My intuition and voice or calling from inside

I can go on forever.

Edith Cavell Mountain, Jasper
When We Got chance to Visit Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle
Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum - Seattle
Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum - Seattle v1
Colorful Float from Pasadena Rose Parade a Couple of Years Ago | Creativity, Ingenuity of using Plants and Flowers along with Technology Blows Me Away
Art to an entirely different level of storytelling - a picture is worth thousand words - this float made with natural plant based component is beyond words
Art to an entirely different level of storytelling - a picture is worth thousand words - this float made with natural plant based components is beyond words
Use of plants, flowers, leaves and seeds with vibrant natural colors developed a theme of environmental sustainability with this float
Use of plants, flowers, leaves and seeds with vibrant natural colors developed a theme of environmental sustainability with this float
Flowers Close to Beginning of a Hiking Trail at the Salt Creek Beach
Devens Journey - Connected Conscience
Hot Water Springs at Yellow Stone | I Vividly Remember a Quote I Read in National Geographic - "Paint Can't Touch It, and Words Are Wasted" - I Tried to Capture in a Photograph Anyways 😀
Art of Story telling using totem poles - Devens Journey
Images of Totempoles | Saw These in Vancouver when We Visited There a Few Years Ago | These Incredible Art Forms were THE Language for Generations to Pass on Lessons, Stories, Culture and Way of Life
This Peacock Made my Day when we Visited Los Angeles Country Arboretum recently

Clarify, Expand my Vision

While so many mirrors and colors have enriched the kaleidoscope forever, one of my resolutions for 2020 to explore and practice mindfulness and meditation showed me an insight that can help me clarify my “vision”:

  1. Tune into the present moment, and allow or accept it without imposing any projection from the past or future. The tool that works the best for me is to use breathing techniques to observe and tune into my body sensations. It connects me with stillness from inside, bringing me to my senses, that is, both literally and figuratively. It sharpens my “eyesight” to see even sharper, more in-depth, more vibrant, and vivid colors.
  2. Have a beginner’s mindset being open and curious to new possibilities that every moment brings. It can clear the “veil” to discover an entirely new set of colors. It can create a break in the story or a pause for new potential turns, options, and opportunities.

Clarifying my mind and losing myself in the world around me can help me prevent or alleviate my mental, emotional, or physical achromatopsia.

Allow, Lighten up
Sunset at Laguna Beach
Place of abundance in the heat of the moment - lighter, softer foot prints
Santiago Mountains
Lake Louise, Banff, Canada | the Canadian Rockies and Lakes are Breathtakingly Beautiful
Trip to Vancouver, Victoria BC - Buchart Gardens - Devens Journey
Buchart Botanical Gardens, Victoria BC | Yet Another Way to Appreciate the Nature | Human Ingenuity and Foresight to Nurture the Nature
Grand Teton National Park
Mammoth Mountain
Mammoth Mountain

The Kaleidoscope of the Universe

The universal consciousness is evolving and not standstill. I am not in the universe, but I am the universe – an intrinsic part of its creation. There is limitless potential for vibrant creativity, boundless joy, happiness, healing, and nature in that space if I can detach from my ego and smile through the pain and hurt and cravings and delusion of my thoughts.

In that sense, maybe the universe is also a “kaleidoscope.” 😀

 

Steve Taylor, THE CLEAR LIGHT, on abundance and riches of our inner realm:

Here is a beautiful landscape
of translucent light and infinite space
and deep rich colors and perfect forms
and endless intricate details –
a masterpiece that is freshly painted every moment.

 

Colors - Kaleidoscope that is an optical instrument, my life, our lives, and the universe
Colors - Kaleidoscope that is an optical instrument, my life, our lives, and the universe

4 Responses

  1. Marianne
    | Reply

    Very interesting, I liked the vibrancy in your photos.
    Are you going to do a speech on it in Toastmasters?

  2. Brenda van Loggem
    | Reply

    Thanks for opening my eyes to this. They always fascinated me!! Your ability to take this to another level was awesome! Something to “reflect on”
    Brenda

  3. NILESH BHOOT
    | Reply

    Devubha, I was watching Netflix series about living being somewhere in universe. Whenever I was watching milky way in my childhood, I felt humble and is true today. You have expressedbeautifully.
    Let’s see universe with third eye.🤲
    Nilubha

  4. Bhasker Patel
    | Reply

    Beautiful ideas and pictures! I love the idea of “having a beginner’s mindset.”

What are your thoughts?