You are a Body. Of Water.

You are a Body. Of Water.

            Have you ever watched a body of water? Right, it’s a body…of water…kind of like you.

          

  I visit a section of a river near my house a lot. I love standing on the edge to look, wonder, smile, and say thank you. I’m not even sure exactly what I’m saying thank you to, but I say thank you a lot.

Thank you, River.

Thank you, Stephanie for bringing me here this morning. Thank you breeze, trees, sand, rocks, sky, heron, and, and, and.

This morning the river waters were loud, roaring even, with small white-capped waves racing downstream. The water was dark, maybe a reflection of the overcast sky above and maybe a result of a churning up of everything beneath the surface.

This body of water, today, flowed outward onto the sandy beach making for a smaller place for me to stand. It nearly covered the big rocks where I like to sit and think. It was full.

It wasn’t overflowing, mind you, just full. Pushing forth. Doing what full bodies of water do.

My visits to this body of water have shown me that it will be different every time, and this fullness will change little by little until the sandy beach is much wider, the rocks are visible and make fun islands to sit and walk on, and I will barely be able to hear a slight gurgle of the water passing. Those will be lovely visits, too. The slighter, slower body of water will invite a different way of being with it: dipping toes in the edge, watching a small bird dive for dinner, hearing a cracking of a limb and the whistling of leaves that I can’t hear when the body is fuller, faster.

My body, too, is a body of water.

You are also a body of water.

Some days we gently meander our way through, easing downstream, sliding across bumps, humming a constant and reassuring song. We don’t even notice these days very much, they can feel a bit ho-hum, mundane even, but they create something like a comfort zone for us. In that way, mundane and ho-hum are good for our spirits.

Thank you Mundane. Thank you Ho-Hum.

Sometimes our body of water is fuller, not quite overflowing but full. We push out on our waistbands, our heart feels plump, our throat is tight, our spirit is big, we are moving! This fullness can feel beautiful, bright, and hopeful. Or sometimes our fullness is anxiety or fear or dread.

When your body is full that way, and when it’s pushing out with joy, excitement, anticipation, celebration, happiness, take a slow deep breath and breathe in that fullness.

Thank You, Fullness!

Remember, you are a body of water and always changing. This beautiful, exhilarating fullness will also change, so be grateful while it’s here.

When your body is full and pushing out with sadness, grief, disappointment, worry, or frustration, take a slow deep breath and breathe in that fullness.

Thank you, Fullness.

And remember, you are a body of water and it will change. This painful fullness will recede, be grateful that you can feel and be grateful that it will change.

Sometimes we are past full, our bodies of water flooding, white-capping, pushing, roaring, ripping. We might be overflowing with exuberance, optimism, a high-on-life giddiness. We skip, dance, laugh, shriek, scream, jump, celebrate!

THANK YOU, GIDDINESS!

We breathe in the flood and spill out a bright light that touches everything and everyone around us. And when that recedes, because it will, we are changed. Cleansed and cleared in a new kind of way.

Sometimes our bodies are overflowing with frustration, anger, depression, nervousness, hopelessness, pain. We punch and kick our way through the flood, we spill out tears and spit, tearing down trees and taking chunks of the earth with us.

Thank you, Tears.

We breathe in the flood and breathe out what no longer serves us as we wait to recede.

Our body will recede.

And when it recedes, we are changed, the churning up of our deep underworld can cleanse and clear in new ways if we allow it to. If we go with the flow.

You are a body of water. I am too. We fill, expand, recede, recede even more, then fill and expand and recede. We are gurgling, gentle, flowing, inviting, creeping, meandering, flooding, rushing, churning Power.

Thank you, Body.