My trip to Norway was, of course, structured around the breathtaking nature for which Norway is famous, which was formed because of water. Lots and lots of it. At one point, Norway was just a plateau, probably without anything remarkable, just vegetation and some small streams. Then mass amounts of water came flooding into the valley and drove into the rock, slowly but surely delving crevices into the once-solid structure until the fjords were formed and the rest of the water receded. Norway is constantly evolving because there are waterfalls and small streams of water falling off of the sides of the mountains which freeze at night and expand when they freeze by 3 (?) times. Think about that: every night the water freezes in the cracks of the rock, expands, and alters the shape of the rock EVERY NIGHT! The valley of Jostedals was made deeper in the 1800's when a finger of the Nigardsbreen glacier expanded into the valley across the valley's lake and then receded, leaving deeper crevices that you can actually see. The lake has a cerulean glow from the minerals that the glacier picked up upon expansion and left after recession! This was only 200 years ago!!
This semester I showed two friends this video, and I think they were really pleasantly surprised by it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkbpXRSIUnE.
This video is about Dr. Masaru Emoto, who looked at the formation of water crystals after exposing water to meditation or positive vs. negative words (love vs. hate), things like that. The water crystals look dramatically different, depending on what type of "energy", or whatever you want to call it, the water was exposed to. The point of the study he did was to scientifically demonstrate the physical effects of prayer, meditation, energy, etc., but I think there were also implications for how sensitive our water-based bodies are to this energy. For that matter, our water-based world!
I've always had a fascination with water. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was growing up (until the fateful 9th grade honors biology course of memorization HELL), my favorite movie was and always will be Jaws, and I've spent most of my life as a swimmer. My favorite analogy for the connection of living things is that we are like an ocean, separate drops of water all connected to each other in the big body of water that is the ocean. The Little Mermaid was my favorite Disney princess, of course! Water is such a definitive characteristic of Earth, probably the reason for existence of life (we won't get into the discussion of water on the moon or other planets). I can't help but be in total awe of water, its infinite beauty, how powerful it is and yet how sensitive it is.
When I finally went to the really nice pool in Aalborg, I was instantly re-addicted to swimming as both exercise and a form of meditation. I've been chanting Om Mani Padme Hum and saying personal mantras a lot since coming here, and I started doing that when I was swimming. It never occurred to me that I was possibly altering the water in which I was swimming by meditating.
Now I drink my water more slowly and sometimes meditate when drinking because I know it's going into my body. And the act reminds me a lot of Christians eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ, putting these prayed-on, blessed substances into their bodies. I think it's beautiful, if a bit morbid. And how about Holy Water?! Sometimes, Christianity surprises me.
Well, that's all I have to say about water for now. It's just food (or water) for thought, something that impresses me all the time.
Also, lest we forget the Atlanta floods this year....
Just for fun, I also have an inspirational song that I sing to myself when I start swimming and have to push through the first 20 laps. Cheesy, yes, but such a great song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aVUB0nIONo
Krog Street bridge
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