“Out there on the empty sea,
Where only the moon appears,
No sail has been seen to pass
In four long and dreary years.”
Imagine lighting the lamp for ships that never go past.
Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson
What is the point to light the lamp at the lighthouse faithfully every evening when no ship needed it? So the lighthouse keeper had given up and be someone else. When he tried to be someone else, he was not only losing the purposes of doing thing, he lost himself, he lived a lifeless life. And he would do everything to avoid disappointment.
“He’s afraid of the lighthouse. He always makes elaborate detours to avoid going past it.”
Not only the lighthouse keeper was not lighting the lamp. Moominpappa was crestfallen for not understanding the sea as he thought he could, Moominmama’s garden “had disappeared, completely and utterly vanished”, Moomintroll felt helpless when he did not know how to help The Groke that he preferred to ignore her, The Groke “waited and waited and no one had come”. In short,
“One toiled and toiled and nothing worked. Things just seemed to slip through one’s fingers.”
“The boat (Adventure) lay on her side with her sail rolled up, looking as though she never wanted to sail again. She had been pulled so high up the beach that she seemed to have nothing to do with the sea any more.”
However, when the Moonmins were setting out on the journey to sea. They have an idea that this journey should be “a real change”, and not just an “adventure”. Moominmama kept planting apple tree seeds, Moominpappa learned to like the sea no matter how mysterious the sea is to him, Moomintroll realised The Groke “was delighted that he had come to meet her” and not because of what he could do for her, The Groke wasn’t afraid of being disappointed anymore. Nothing was said about when will be the next ship passing by the island where the light house stands, it does not matter, what matters is …
“The lighthouse-keeper had come back.”
“The lighthouse was working.”
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Comments
“When he tried to be someone else, he was not only losing the purposes of doing thing, he lost himself, he lived a lifeless life.”
Lighthouse keeper in a way sounds like many of us who are navigating our journey, and how lost we all feel changing paths and may risk losing our sense of self built over the years. I wish for a positive outcome for all those who are still on the road, and hopefully we like the lighthouse keeper, would eventually find our way back too.
Author
Thank you for leaving comment. We can have faith and hope for the positive outcome 🙂 As long as we are still breathing, there must be a purpose and mission to be accomplished.