Water..... at its best it is a giver and sustainer of life; at its worst a destroyer of all in its path. In the womb we are cradled and cushioned by amniotic waters, lulled to sleep by the gentle roll and slosh as our mothers walk through their days, while eagerly awaiting our emergence from their wombs so that they might take us into their arms and whisper words of love into our tiny ears. When we leave the warmth of that watery embrace, what a shock it is to our tiny, newborn systems. We long for warmth and protection, for that place of diffuse light and shadow and softness. This new world is bright and cold, and filled with hard edges.
And to this day when I long for solace, when the hard edges of the world threaten my tender spots, when the cold seeps into my bones and I am unable to shake it, I retreat to my bathtub. Submerged in heated waters, during those moments of fragility and vulnerability, I am renewed, comforted, cleansed, healed.
Touching the Source
I seek out water in my travels and in my daily life, the sea side, the lake near my former home, the river's edge near my new home, even the tiny creeks that are flush after a heavy rain. The sound of flowing, rolling, rushing, falling water is like a hymn sung by the universe. It strikes a universal chord in us. Perhaps it harkens back to those early moments in the sloshing womb.
Water has a powerfully pernicious side too. It has the ability to lash out at the landscape with a vengeance, wiping it clean and drawing everything in its path out to sea as it retreats. It has the ability to rise and to rise and claim what it wants for itself. And sometimes it has the ability to swallow whole everything within its reach.
As with human beings, all these contradictions are contained at once. We hold our gentleness, our tenderness and our compassion next to our anger, our resentment and our fear. These images shown here, part of my series entitled "The Source." They illustrate the gentle, hypnotic abilities of calm, still waters. They are an homage to the life-sustaining side of water and a subtle nod to the other dangerous, nefarious side.
My wild nature
Wishing you calm waters and smooth sailing as you venture forward on the seas of autumn.
Until next time...
Anne