Where I live, there are a precious few natural bodies of water and most of the few artificial bodies we have are created by damming, diverting, pumping or any combination of those three.
I love water and am strongly attracted by the sound and sight of moisture. Perhaps as a result of living in an arid climate, I make my own artificial water habitats out of mason jars and aquariums, putting duckweed, spider plants and other water flora and fauna inside. I put them on my desk and in random spaces in the rooms I frequent.
We all know intellectually that water is precious, it drives our body's processes and all of the earth's life-systems. It can cool when hot and it warms when cold. It has a taste all its own and when it is pure, it makes everything it is put into better. Coffee, teas, and other beverages would be quite dry without it.
It makes things beautiful, scenery with water is always better, try to imagine your favorite lake or ocean vista without water. The two-quart mason jar on my desk has small brook pebbles of many hues, but without water, the colors fade.
Water conforms to its container, no matter what the form. If the container (natural or otherwise) is uneven , water will flow in whatever direction and rate is necessary to maintain equilibrium.
That is water's unconscious precious nature, that it can teach at a different level, even subliminally.
Therein lies the nature of the Tao. The water-way, the equilibrium of life.
I aspire to that, I hope to be able to emulate that nature at some point.
Until then, I reckon I'll resemble water in winter, sometimes frozen and in brief stasis, broken and drifting at others. Eventually comes a thaw, and for a time, that dynamic equilibrium is restored.
I love water and am strongly attracted by the sound and sight of moisture. Perhaps as a result of living in an arid climate, I make my own artificial water habitats out of mason jars and aquariums, putting duckweed, spider plants and other water flora and fauna inside. I put them on my desk and in random spaces in the rooms I frequent.
We all know intellectually that water is precious, it drives our body's processes and all of the earth's life-systems. It can cool when hot and it warms when cold. It has a taste all its own and when it is pure, it makes everything it is put into better. Coffee, teas, and other beverages would be quite dry without it.
It makes things beautiful, scenery with water is always better, try to imagine your favorite lake or ocean vista without water. The two-quart mason jar on my desk has small brook pebbles of many hues, but without water, the colors fade.
Water conforms to its container, no matter what the form. If the container (natural or otherwise) is uneven , water will flow in whatever direction and rate is necessary to maintain equilibrium.
That is water's unconscious precious nature, that it can teach at a different level, even subliminally.
Therein lies the nature of the Tao. The water-way, the equilibrium of life.
I aspire to that, I hope to be able to emulate that nature at some point.
Until then, I reckon I'll resemble water in winter, sometimes frozen and in brief stasis, broken and drifting at others. Eventually comes a thaw, and for a time, that dynamic equilibrium is restored.