Be like water. To be like water is to follow the path of least resistance. When we embrace our natural state of flow, we allow ourselves to swim with the waves rather than against them. We often attract what we want when we try the least. The things that we will into manifestation, usually never come to fruition.

Came across a great book when visiting NY in 2018: BLUE MIND, the surprising science that shows how being near, in, on or under water can make us happier, healthier, more connected and better at what we do. Author and marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols insists on a more experiential brand of activism, encouraging individuals to live near the oceans and build healthy creative and emotional personas. The book combines neuroscience experiments, evolutionary biology facts and medical research to prove this point: our best version is connected to water. So having our brains on water is now proving amplified creativity and flow.

The idea of water as a symbol of transformation thus evolution, is common across mythologies. Fragments from the Genesis refer to the rise of the conscious human mind, human awareness being pulled from the deeps of a mythological ocean of subconscious animal instinct. The Christian practice of baptism involves full immersion or a light sprinkling of water to represents a psychological rebirth into the faith. In Hinduism and Buddhism, the lotus floats at the boundary of the water and the air after rising up out of the muck of the pond revealing a beautiful flower. In Hinduism, Vishnu sleeps, floating on the celestial ocean as he dreams the dream of the world. Flood stories abound oddly coincidental with cultural shifts in human history.

The metaphor of water is used throughout mythology, religion, and art to symbolize a psychological transformation in characters or to express a dive into elements of the subconscious mind. Both scientists and mystics argue for it. Wouldn’t you try it too?

So go on, get your feet wet once in a while.

pics from private collection. fotographer: Irina Stinghe