In the recent past, I have opened up with all possible human emotions to the dear river.
I have whined about life, wept about it, I have laughed and danced around it, I have cried out of sheer joy and spoken about so many emotions I didn’t know existed within me.
I have walked through many mountains and forests. I have seen many various forms of nature. I wondered, why, why is it that I connect to the river then?
The Flow
Rivers have a constant flow. This is the prime attraction and learning from a river. To keep going, no matter what.
I am bad with letting go of things, people, and emotions. I take everything too seriously and when it is time to let go of something, I just can’t. Sometimes, I pile up so much of crap in me which shouldn’t have bothered me at the first place that it makes me very uncomfortable.
The moment I am alone near a river, I think of all the things I should let go of. A bad relation, a stupid fight, an awful day, a big mistake, anything that is making me cringe within. I spend the last moments with this thoughts and emotions and finally let go of them.
The Rocks
Have you noticed the rocks around a river? Have you seen how the water cuts through these rocks? Have you seen the water flow between these rocks especially near a waterfall?
Every time I notice this, I have a strong motivation to do something. The power that the water has to be able to shape rocks around makes me believe that even I can do something, write something thought provoking enough to mold some minds for the better. I feel powerful.
There is a stark difference in the rocks that lay under the water for long and the rocks that never. The rocks underwater are always soft, often known as pebbles. Rocks otherwise are sharp and can even give a good wound.
The pebbles and sharp rocks according to my understanding are people who either wish to know perspectives or stay rigid with their own. The pebble kind of people are ready to dive deep and stay there to know you, know your perspective. The sharp rock kind of people are just the opposite. But the catch here is to be like the river and flow through all these people without letting any affect your pace of flow.
The Life
Water is life is a known fact. We all take so much from the rivers, do we ever consider what its life is like?
A river begins on some mountain-top, flows through a forest perhaps and reaches some other water body in the plains. It tries to flow through everything that it faces to reach a destination it isn’t even aware of. It knows only one thing that it can’t stay where it is.
As it is set on this journey without a destination in mind, it feeds a few creatures and humans on the way, it dances and has fun with the big rocks. It lives free and with its happy sound spreads joy all over.
Unfortunately, the joyous journey becomes a horror one when we do our best to kill this joy. The plastic trash around rivers, cutting down of trees and much more. We know about it, we are all guilty in one way or other.
What if rivers cease to exist? What if there is no single river left who has a happy journey? This thought makes me cringe. Every time I see a dead river with trash all over, I mourn. I will hopefully work on this cause. I believe that the life-giving river that teaches me much more should last forever.
This post is a glimpse of why I am a River Baby and a few ways in which I connect to rivers. There is much more I’ll learn from a river. What are your thoughts? DM me for a conversation on Insta @nisha_navgire