Water

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea. -Isak Dinesen

It's November in New Jersey. The weather is getting colder and the dark hours overpower the light ones in increasing measure. My feet are always cold, I want to eat bad food and curl up on the couch, and walking the dog before bed is a game of "not it!!" But, my least favorite thing about this time of year is that I can't go outside and jump in the ocean.

What is it about water that captivates us? Yes, I know it is essential to survival, and it provides food, power, transportation...all of that stuff that we learned in elementary school Social Studies and Science classes. But what is it about water that engages our emotions and our imagination in such a way that we are drawn to it, to immerse ourselves in it? Artists have tried for thousand of years to capture it with pictures or words or song but, still, they just can't seem to satisfy their visions. Maybe it is that it represents all that we don't allow ourselves to show the world.

Ignoring the obvious metaphorical idea of water having an above and below the surface, there is more life contained in an ocean, a lake, a river, or even a puddle than we could imagine, from fish to plant life, to bacteria. We don't consciously think about those things (unless we are still traumatized from 1975 when the movie Jaws was released) when we feel the pull of the water. You know, that pull. Have you ever taken a 3-year-old near a body of water? No self-control (God bless them!), they simply must go in the surf a bit further than you told them they could, or jump in that puddle with their good shoes on, or lean into the edge of the pond to touch the smooth and slimy rocks below the surface. They haven't learned yet to suppress those urges like we adults have. It's too bad for us adults, all of that holding back.

So, it is the edge of winter, and water will turn to ice and rain will turn to sleet and snow. It's ok, it is still water and all that life is still contained within it. I know I can't plunge my body into it for a few more months, but I can still take time outdoors to let my imagination and my inner 3-year-old out as I connect with the water. Go to the ocean, walk in the snow, peek at the koi still swimming below the surface of the ice. And don't be afraid to let go of some of that self-control.