My Personal Connotations For The Word ‘Water’
It is a pretty goofy thing to imagine yourself as being characteristic of certain element, but it is one of my favorite little indulgences. It tends to make for some fun conversation. I want to think that I try to live my life in a certain balance… that I need light and dark, happiness and sadness, passion and apathy… All in order to try to figure myself out. My thoughts often dwell on water and its many different connotations, some that reflect that balance, and some that I just find particularly rad.
Change
In its natural state, water is always changing shape and appearance, and can exist as so many different things at the same time. I like to think that I’m the same way, that it is essential to my development to fluxuate through different stages of life. Different appearances, different people, different settings, in order to figure out what really makes me who I am. Through that sort of weird philosophy in my life, over time I should gradually realize the things about myself that remain constant over the years. I’m still too young to fully have a handle on it yet.
Appearance
Water can be a number of different blue hues (blue is my favorite color, which can’t be a coincidence) depending on how large the quantity is, but it is also entirely colorless if you are observing a small enough amount. In certain circumstances it acts as a mirror to your surroundings… there are just so many different visual manifestations of water that it is amazing to think that they all contain the exact same molecules. It is sort of inspirational to think something so simple can appear so complex and infinite.
Power
I like the deceptive power of the ocean. That it can be so calm and beautiful, but elsewhere in the world the same substance can be so turbulent and dangerous. There is something about it that exites me, especially when you think about applying it to art and music.
Mystery
I love the thought that every time you look at the surface of a lake, pond, ocean, well, etc… that there is something beneath it that you often can’t picture or understand from the outside. That there may be an entire self-contained ecosystem or some horrible dead animal or a bunch of rare coins or whatever… that water is a mysterious thing, in the right context. It can cloak all those other worlds. Very intriguing.
Freedom, Motion and Flow
Of all four elements – earth, water, fire, and air [what about fucken magnets? Ed] – water moves in the most beautiful ways. It is a very free and open motion, but its freedom in movement follows guidelines, the same way a elegant math problem or a ballet dancer must. A stream flows along its turns and dips because the earth keeps it on its course. An ocean rises and falls with the tide because of the push and pull of the moon— There is a degree of unpredictability to the movement of water, but it follows a greater structure. Trying to compose music with that same idea in mind can be a huge help. To think about the bigger picture of the piece instead of thinking about it moment by moment. It’s definitely not like I sit down to start recording and reminsce about the tide, but you know what I mean!
Refreshment and Health
I hate being hot and sweaty more than anything, and in consequence I find that there is no better feeling in the entire world than swimming after experiencing a horrible sweatiness. I get this feeling of health and refreshment that permeates my entire body. I LOVE it. Having an ice cold glass of water is the only other feeling that comes close… Water totally symbolizes health for me. There’s nothing that makes me feel better.
Presence in Nature
The human body is made up of approximately 60 to 70% water, and the surface of the earth is nearly 70% water. Water is so much a part of our world — it makes me feel rooted and human. Even more deeply than standing firmly on the ground or taking in a huge breath of fresh air. It must be tied in with why I love swimming so much.
Bathing and Cleanliness
A lot of my love for Japanese culture stems from the respect they have for bathing. It is such a ‘get in, get out’ sort of thing with showers here in America, and definitely in most parts of the world, (including Japan,) but there is still a reverence for the ritual of bathing and cleanliness that doesn’t exist in most other cultures. I, personally, am happiest when I am clean, and love thinking about the depth to which the word ‘clean’ can be taken — an exceedingly long, hot bath, in addition to a shower beforehand, just cleans you so thoroughly and completely… I can’t ever get enough of it.
Floating
The feeling of floating undisturbed in a quiet body of water is a very meditative thing. There’s no experience quite like it, where you can almost completely lose your sense for the weight of your own body… Taking a bath is a weaker example, but floating in zero G in space might be the only thing that surpasses it for me. It’s a beautiful thing. I really miss having a pool, because I haven’t had enough opportunities to just float around lately. I feel my absolute most peacful in bathtubs, pools, jacuzzis, lakes, oceans… places where my creativity can sort of be mildly amplified because there are so few distractions.
