Ask Dr. Annie K: Why is water so important in life?
Water is full of contradictions. It’s soft, yet strong. It appears still, yet it is constantly in motion. It can be silent or loud. It can be solid, liquid, or vapor. It can be salty or sweet. It can be scary and dangerous but also comforting and purifying. It allows us to both observe its beauty and use it to cleanse.
By being exposed to water, we are witnessing the movement and flow of life. It takes away our delusions of control. For people who see things black and white, water can be confronting. They may prefer to admire it from a distance rather than get close. Water reminds us that we don’t need to label ourselves. We are capable of adjusting to the opposite forces of nature. Fighting the current can sink you, floating can save your life.
I am constantly balancing that paradox of water. I too want to slip through fingers to maintain my softness, yet I want to be powerful in body and mind. I want to need others yet maintain my independence. I want to talk football and fashion with the same degree of expertise. I want to value my blog as much as I value my scientific research. I strive to be active and want to strive just as hard to be still.
Epsom salt, lavender oil, and baking soda bathtub soaks at night in winter ease me out of my outward day self to the internal self of the night. I did tweak the routine for summer nights when I drank a bottle of cold hard cider in the shower before getting into bed. Breaking all the rules for bedtime rituals ;-)! I also follow Joan Kantor’s brilliant advice (a future guest blogger for loveandmedicine) and drink a bottle of water in the shower in the morning.
My three kids were all subject to hydrotherapy- whenever they were “out of sorts” they were placed in a warm bath and it worked miraculously to calm, comfort and contain. Honestly, it never failed. Beats a “time-out” any day.
Water represents that part of us that is fun, creative, mysterious, sensual and filled with awe and wonder. It takes us out of our little heads into a larger space. Waves one after another lull us out of the clutter. The colors- the cool, blue spectrum- can spark feelings of calmness as well as sadness or nostalgia. Blue, the color of the sky and sea, is both grounding and enlightening.
Water reaffirms life and love. That, in answer to your question my reader, is why water is so important. How telling is it that it shows our reflection on its surface?
Lovely
finally one you like :-))
Let’s go for a swim! 🙂
Yalla!
this brings tears to my eyes!
so appreciate your love and support <3
Well said. Thanks for reflecting at a deeper level about something that we unforunetly take for granted.
Bailey, we should never take anything for granted. It is all one big world of wonder !
Thank you for your great musings about water, Dr. Annie. Somehow, even the word “water” seems flowy and purifying and comforting.
I just got out of my morning shower where I never fail to drink a glass of water as the water falls on my body. Nothing like feeling water while drinking it to begin the day clean and fresh. No coffee, no pills, no gadgets. Just water. Hallelujah!
Eder girls are all about water, never go anywhere without a bathing suit! Looking forward to your contributions to loveandmedicine as a blogger! This is just as cool as your New York Times articles, even cooler 😉
Wimpy. I like love you!
I will miss your comments my dear Laurence. To my readers, Laurence was my close first cousin. He passed away 2 days after posting this.
maybe that’s why I love coming home on the weekends to Eilat – just to swim in the Red Sea – my kind of water! always the same temperature, ALL SEASONS. The colorful fish are always there, swimming with the swimmers, and the air is my kind of air. Do you know that all my friends and guests always talk about how their hairwash comes out great in Eilat? It’s the water!!
Red sea water is a blog in itself! Magical, year round.
love how you are able to take a word and turn it into a world! it’s a gift and am grateful each time i read it because it reminds me to open my eyes and my soul to the whole of life. Thanks Anne
Terri, if that is what my writing does, I have done my job.