Being Like Water
Danu by Radmere Be sure to visit Radmer Paintings at http://www.radmeroncanvas.com and contact him at sourcepaintings@gmail.com to purchase
“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” —Lao Tzu
My Irish Catholic lineage left me strong, stoic and controlling. In other words brittle, unable to feel and disastrous in relationship. But my Piscean energy is a water sign steeped in fluidity, emotionality and malleability. The protective armoring I created for myself ( which was necessary for surviving my childhood) eventually became too much to hold up and hold onto after decades of trying to reinforce the walls. Brittleness crumbles, flatline feelings crave sparks and control eventually seeks relationality. The name of my healing business, Relax and Expand, came out of the realization that being soft, opening, being vulnerable and allowing can be just as powerful for our personal growth and spiritual expansion as linear, hold it strong, hardlined powering through. Even the concept of “ I want to become ( better, happier, less anxious) itself has push outward that creates a disparity between who we are and who we want to become. Fully embracing myself as is, gave way to a fluidity of the person I actually wanted to be. The stream that flows by my apartment has been such a teacher on so many levels. Watching it, emmersing in it year round, listening to it. Water is water, yet it is continually moving. If you watch the little whitecaps in a stream as they hit the rocks, the water flows backwards creating a perfect Ying-Yang : Moving but still water, flowing forward yet also the reverse, it can drown us, yet we need it to live. Water is the master of shapeshifting: liquid, ice, steam, snow, clouds, fog, rain: moving from form to form without complaint or resistance, only complete presence for its current experience. The water element has often been associated with emotions and the comparison is easy to see, especially with emotional fluidity. Accessing our emotional resiliency can be difficult when we have created layers of armoring and protective walls to keep our sensitive selves safe. But just as water can wear away granite, if we continually dip our toe into our felt sense experience, no matter how cold, uncomfortable or painful we develop a greater capacity of personal presence, a broadened range of emotional amplitude which includes being able to experience joy at a deeper and more expansive level. From that wholeness we can embody the truth of who we are and we can become very powerful and effective forces of change in the world simple by being our true selves. The world needs each and every one of us to be present and fully engaged with all of our bodies- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual so we can show up to life and be the change we want to see.
Need assistance with learning embodied presence practices? Eileen is an alternative healer who has completed 15 vision quests enabling her to be a clear and effective conduit for your personal growth. She has worked with somatic breathwork practices for the last 8 years and is a certified Unified Mindfulness Coach Contact Eileen@relaxandexpand.com
Very beautifully said. And lovely image. Bruce Lee’s quote “You put water 💦 in a cup 🥛 it becomes the cup.” comes from Lao Tsu’s teaching. It’s a lessons in being adaptive. Don’t freak out when things change, just go with the flow. ☺ Thank you for sharing this. 🙏🏾