Spiral

I finished making this today – it took a couple of years to find the spherical stones, mainly on the Sussex coast

I first saw this table display when I was at university (by Jim & Helen Ede)

at Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge

“Life is a journey up a spiral staircase; as we grow older we cover the ground covered we have covered before, only higher up; as we look down the winding stair below us we measure our progress by the number of places where we were but no longer are. The journey is both repetitious and progressive; we go both round and upward.” [William Butler Yeats]

Fellow writer Vladimir Nabokov saw similarly…

“The spiral is a spiritualized circle. In the spiral form, the circle, uncoiled, has ceased to be vicious; it has been set free.”

Life as repetitious and progressive is an uplifting image. The repetition such as the cycling of the seasons or the rising and setting of the sun brings the comfort of familiarity, as well as reliability and connection to history. The progress and rising reflects the acquisition of wisdom and understanding.