My life with Water
When scientists are searching for evidence of life on other planets, present or past, one of the first things they do is look for evidence of water. This could be liquid, frozen, or evidence of canals. The reason for this is that water on earth is the origins of life on earth. The first living organism on earth came from the primordial soup of the water on earth. From those humble beginnings all life evolved.
Some of the earliest civilizations started near the Tigris-Euphrates river system. Water was needed to grow crops. It was needed to drink, bath, and create things and so much more. Water was an integral part of where cities and towns grew up until the Romans mastered moving water with aqueducts. We take for granted that water is available by turning the tap, but that has only been true for little over a century.
The human body is about sixty percent water. This means that water has an effect on us. Studies have shown moon phases that control tides and bodies of water on the planet can have an effect on us. Emergency room visits increase on full moons. People with mood swings are more affected then.
There are certain things we all need to live. We all need to breathe oxygen. Oxygen can be pulled out of water. We all need to eat. Some people are plant based, some people are carnivorous, and most people are omnivores meaning they eat both plant based and animal based foods. We all need water. You may think that you do not drink water. Water is the base ingredient in every beverage from mother’s milk to my beloved bourbon. Hehehe, I mention bourbon a lot. I enjoy it but I can count on one hand how many times I have tasted it in 2020. I have plenty of it around but it is part of a way I celebrate life when I enjoy it. It is always sipped and savored, appreciating every nuance of the water based beverage. A person can live much longer without food than they can live without water.
Water is more integral part of people’s lives than just nutrition. The main reason I suggested the prompt to Diana was seeing how many references Know Thyself members gave to water. From going with the flow to specific mentions of water in recreation, peacefulness, inspiration, and spirituality.
So far I can covered water and life, water and people, and water and survival. Now I want to talk about how water is important to me personally. I am a swimmer. I can remember from the beginning being able to swim. My mom taught me to swim. My mom taught my brothers to swim. I can remember my first big test of swimming. I remember it because I failed it miserably. When we were kids my parents would take us to a lake. We would swim and picnic for the day and then go home. There was an area contained in floating buoys connected by ropes. Everyone was allowed inside those. It is one of the places I learned to swim. There was a floating platform outside the ropes where the water was much deeper.
My test was to swim to that raft from the roped in area. My mom accompanied me. We got about halfway there and I panicked and grabbed hold tightly to my mom. She couldn’t swim, I couldn’t move so she did the best thing ever. She took us both under the water. Once I was under the water, where we both would have ended up because of me, I let go immediately to swim back up. My mom swam a good distance away, surfaced and yelled at me. She told me she had to do that to save both of us. She told me I knew how to swim and could swim back to the safety of the rope or to the raft. I do not know which way I went. I have been a swimmer since.
My feet have been in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, the South China Sea, The Great Lakes of North America, and various other rivers, lakes, and bodies of water. I find peace sitting by them. I am amazed at the force of nature of huge waves. I am amazed that the same body of water can soon be so peaceful that you can hear the lapping of water. I have seen the power of water having gouged out the gorges on the Niagara River and the falls. I have seen the power that water has created by moving turbines to create electricity. I very much enjoy vacationing near water. Enjoy being in it, I enjoy being near it, I enjoy the wildlife that is inside it and surrounds it. I enjoy seeing it fall from the skies in thunderstorms.
Water is part of my life on almost a daily basis. I swim a kilometer and a half each day. The purpose of water is to sustain life. It is its purpose on this planet. This is never more evident than the symbiotic relationship I have with water. I need to exercise to stay healthy. I need to exercise to manage my type 1 diabetes. It is this symbiotic relationship that allows me to swim. I cannot move if I do not push the water.
The water surrounds me so that I can move it. The water flows past, me I move along. It happens in a pool, in a river, in a lake, or in the oceans and seas. It is there to be moved. It is there to teach us that we are part of everything. If you fight water you will lose and likely die. If you become part of water you can swim great distances. You can float if you wish. Or you can just be dangling your feet and legs inside it, floating on it in a tube or on a raft. Once again to move you have to work with it not against it.
Water’s lesson is to help us live, to help us enjoy life, to help us BE. Water only asks that we be one with it. That we honor it, keep it clean, and let it be what we need. Water in all its phases just is.
