What water teaches us.

About power and transformation.

I’ve been meditating on what it means to embody water. Not just the physical experience of water, but its fundamental habits. Its essence. Its unique and undulating type of power.

Water flows softly, or it can rage. Water travels thousands of miles — unless contained — never staying in one place longer than it must. Even in its containment, water can transform itself from one form to another, to meet the circumstances it finds itself in. Liquid to gas, then back again.

Water finds a way. It is unafraid to bend itself into new shapes, new grooves, new patterns all in service of its momentum. It is capable of incredible transformation…including destruction. It possesses an unwavering confidence that its direction is clear and forward. In that confident movement it can carve landscapes through stone.

While walking one morning months ago the wind whispered, “be more like water.” I’m not sure I understood at the time, but it’s been present in my consciousness ever since. Thoughts of water’s ever forward motion, despite the terrain, have kept me afloat recently. I find myself grappling with my own notions of power — how it is harnessed and expressed. Power is not always rock (unmovable) or fire (explosive) but instead the steady, unwavering commitment to a future you cannot yet see. In heading towards that goal you must be unafraid to bend or transform based on what presents itself.

I return to the wisdom of Kiara Jewel Lingo’s meditation series (also a book) as a mantra, We Were Made For These Times. The trials we face were known to us before we arrived in these bodies. And while I cannot change the circumstances of today, I can remember…

I was born into this world with the capabilities and courage this lifetime will require.

I can trust that I am a divine child of the universe and my intuition is clear.

I can give my love freely to those who need a little more.

I can live more deeply with intention; to be the type of person I want to be in this world.

And while I may not know what comes next… I can, much like water, keep flowing towards the future I cannot see but believe is possible.

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We Were Made For These Times meditation series can be found on Plum Village