The Detail is in the Chameleon

The following is a guest post by Jacqui Holmes. You can see more of Jacqui’s and other guests’ stories here.

Recently, while visiting my mom at her cottage, we decided to take a short walk in the garden. She took a fall recently and has been a little nervous about getting used to her walking stick.

On the way back to her cottage, there was a wooden gate opened to our right with a small narrow garden running along the back of the cottages. There was a gentleman there who was trimming the hedge. He was frozen on the spot, just staring at this one branch covered in leaves. He didn’t seem to know whether he should be afraid or not, but his look was also one of absolute awe & wonder.

I glanced down, looking for what had caught his attention, and there between two of the leaves sat a Chameleon. I have not seen one in absolute ages and I was really excited. I pick up the branch and said “Wow, look mom, it’s a Chameleon”. The gentleman who had been cutting the hedge asked me if it was some kind of lizard as he had never seen one before. 

I excitedly explained to him what it was and how it can change colour to blend in with its surroundings, therefore providing it with an excellent way of camouflaging itself from the rest of the world, especially other creatures that may prey on it. I lifted the leaves a little more and it had already begun to turn green in places as it moved off the branch and onto the leaves. The man was amazed. “Yes, yes!!” he said “look it’s turning green like the leaves”.

I told him that it was not a type of lizard as far as I knew and he was very interested to know what it ate. I explained that they have a long sticky tongue and can lie very still, waiting for the right moment to strike some unsuspecting insect, by shooting this long tongue out, unrolling it from its mouth and snatching up its next meal. Their tongues have a glue type residue that sticks to the insect, allowing the chameleon to roll up its tongue and put it back into its mouth, together with dinner. I almost wished that we could witness this, just to see the look on his face. My mom has also not seen one for many years and so the three of us stood chatting about our new little friend and taking in the details that make up the creature called a Chameleon. I did not take a photo of it as we were all just caught up in that moment, experiencing and sharing this brief time with one of the wonders of nature.

When you look at something or find something, do you see the detail that is there? Or do you just see it? There’s a huge difference. Let’s take a look at the Chameleon. I found this lovely picture on Mr Google. I realise that at this point, you probably think I have lost the plot. You’re probably also thinking that if you wanted to look at a chameleon, you could simply tune into some nature programme on tele later or Google it. But I ask you to bear with me. Top up that cup of tea or coffee or refill that wine glass and humour me for a short while.

Look at how his little front hand is “split” in two. It looks like he has nails on this “toe”. Brownish/pinkish nails. Two of them.
There are little ridges and bumps all over his body.
Look around his eye and see how the colour thar runs above his eye is almost a shade of red. Is he grinning or grimacing do you think? 
He has a little “fin” on his head. It too has ridges and the part closest to his head is almost the same colour as that above his eye. 
Look at all the different greens on his body, head and arms. 
There’s a light cream stripe along his side where the ridges seem bigger, almost like dry skin. 
Look how his lips look whiter the closer they get to the front of his mouth. 
It looks like his has little spears pointing up along the top of his body and under his chin, that also seem to change to different shades of the same colour. 
Look at the shape of his eye. There seems to be some yellow just below his pupil. 

We could go on for quite some time noticing new details about this cute little creature. 

We are being conscious, not only of the little animal we see, but of all the details that make him look like he does. The details of the Chameleon.

I learned about being more conscious in such a fascinating way while I was on a retreat earlier this year at the Krom River, with a small group of ladies. I only knew the one, with whom I had been doing a course. The others were strangers to me, but not for long, as we all just clicked, chatting as if we had known one another much longer and taking regular dips in the river, getting to know each other better and finding lots to laugh about.

It was on this retreat that I discovered the wonders of “Conscious Walking”. What is that exactly? Well, you take a walk that’s for sure…… out in nature, in any direction you want to go, alone preferably so that you can be entirely conscious of every detail around you. Not just seeing the trees, grass, flowers, stones, rocks and all the other goodies nature has on offer but actually notice every minute detail. The shapes of the leaves on the trees. The difference in the petals that make up one flower, the little veins and jagged edges of blades of grass. The different colours and textures that make up the rock on the edge of the river that the water washes up against and laps over. Look at the different colours in the same leaf, the same flower, the same insect. We had to choose something to take back to the house that we would later do a continuous line drawing of….. where you don’t take your pen off the page. It’s usually done in a fine liner and it must be done VERY slowly to enable you to capture each notch, hole, bend along the edges. I chose this unusual reddish/brown leaf to draw. 

Even though I am a creative by profession, my actual drawing skills have never been great. But I was so pleased with the outcome of this. Paying real attention to the detail and going super slowly created a whole new way for me to look at drawing something. 

Have you noticed the small cobwebs clinging to the leaves in the photograph?

I have since joined Tee (the facilitator on the retreat and wonderful lady I did my course with) for her Wednesday evening continuous drawing sessions. They are for 45 minutes, where you exit the world and take your head into a space where you can focus on the details. Loving it!!

I think it would be so amazing and enriching if we took more notice of the people and things around us. We see, we talk, we mention, we notice, but can we recall the intimate details? Do we see the small pink flowers in a garden of yellow daisies? Do we see the little white flowers among the leaves of a fruit tree as Spring starts and these little buds are the beginning of the fruit that is to come by Summer. Are we tuned into people? They may smile and laugh and be the clown of the party, but do you take notice of the soul behind the eyes, their body language, the way they see or don’t, the details around them. Sometimes the person who seems the happiest at a gathering that is the saddest person in the room, or the quietest person there actually has a lot of interesting things to share but chooses not to. You can tell in the nuances all around you, if you take the time to really see, to really, truly notice.

Sunsets, one of my favourite miracles to watch are never the same twice. Each and every one, each and every night is different. Look at the clouds, if there are any, their shapes, their colours with the sun shining behind them. The colour of the sand on the beach, the different colours in the waves you see breaking on the beach. Watch carefully how all of these details change the lower the sun sinks below the horizon. 

Next time you want to get some fresh air and blow the cobwebs away, take a walk in nature and then write down what you actually saw, in minute detail. 

It has changed the way I think and process things in the most profound ways. I hope that it changes yours. 

Maybe we should learn to experience life more SLOWLY. 

Do you have any similar stories or memories of your own? Leave them in the comments section below and help inspire others.

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