There are plenty of hurdles to climb. Life is full of obstacles. When you are facing a challenge, I want you to hear the voice of your inner coach shouting “C’mon! Get going! What are you made of?” Good question, coach!
WHAT ARE WE MADE OF?
We are primarily made of WATER. Babies are almost 80% water. Even adult men, who are usually more solid than babies despite the way they sometimes act, are about 60% water. Our brains are 70% water, but those oxygen-input devices so vital to life, our lungs, are almost 9/10ths water. Blood, the river that transports nutrients and waste, regulates our temperature and allows us to digest is 83% water.
It isn’t just us. The surface of the Earth is 71% water. Every living cell in every plant and animal must have enough water inside, or life can’t be sustained. People have lived for weeks without food, but even one day without water causes difficulties in perception and basic body functions.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES of WATER
- Water is a unique compound, the only one that is naturally found in all three states of matter — liquid, solid (ice), and gas (steam) — at the temperatures normally found on Earth. Earth’s water is constantly interacting, changing, and MOVING.
- Water’s freezing and boiling points are the baseline with which temperature is measured by scientists and people in most countries: 0o on the Celsius scale is water’s freezing point, and 100o is water’s boiling point. Water is unusual in that the solid form, ice, is less dense than the liquid form, which is why ice floats.
- Water has a high specific heat index. It can absorb a lot of heat. This is why water is valuable to industries and in car radiators as a coolant. The high specific heat index of water also helps regulate the rate at which air changes temperature, which is why the temperature change between seasons is gradual rather than sudden, especially near the oceans.
- Water has a high surface tension. In other words, water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread out in a thin film. Surface tension is responsible for capillary action, which allows it (and its dissolved nutrients) to move through the roots of plants and through the tiny blood vessels in our bodies.
So what’s with all the encouragement we get to act SOLID? (“Be my rock.”) I think it’s a metaphor that holds people back. We are animated water balloons, with some meat and chemicals. EMULATE WATER! Don’t be solid (which you aren’t), be liquid. ADAPT to the shape of the containers you are placed in. GO WITH the FLOW. Try not to freeze too easily. ABSORB the HEAT. Be elastic.
Drink it, wash in it, BE what you are – MOSTLY WATER.
Has trying to be too “solid” held you back?
Wonderful! What a great take and what a great question, “Has trying to be too solid held you back?”
Thank you, Iris. (He bows with a flowing gesture.)
Gentlemanly…We don’t find that often these day.
I don’t know Mikey. Maybe there’s too much of a non-conformist in me but I don’t always care for the shape my balloon takes on when people are squeezing me. Same for going with the natural flow of water in a river. Sometimes I’m more interested in what’s upstream.
And this one is strictly tongue-in-cheek but as one who prefers being invisible, wouldn’t you naturally favor being a vapor?
Oh yes! (It’s a gas, gas, gas.)
I LOVE this post. Totally. You’ll love this…I had something in my post tonight that I pulled due to length that was preciously about CHANGE. Wish I hadn’t. Have to mull around putting it tomorrow’s post and expounding on it. I’ve been inspired. However, there is no hope that I could out do this post. You got here first. You nailed this sucker down. The analogy is breath taking.
Have you ever read those books by the Oriental gentleman on his work with water. The name of him and his books fail me and I’m growing too faint for a google search… If you are left completely clueless nudge me and I’ll do a search and let you know.
Theresa Jane
http://www.fromhousewifetofilmmaker.com
I don’t know the Asian writer for sure, but there is a school of architectural philosophy named Sogetsu in Japan that teaches about the use of water in designed spaces to improve and amplify inner harmony. The style is called Ikebana. One well-known adherent was Hiroshi Teshigahara, who spent his life split between designing (with water) and making films. His films are terrific and include Woman in the Dunes, Antonio Gaudi, and Rikyu. I’ve seen his design work in those “coffee-table” books. Glad you liked the analogy in the post.
Here’s the book I read that the “water” guy wrote: Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto. Very interesting work.
Theresa Jane
Thanks. I’ll look for it.
(You can find out about the book Theresa Jane’s just finished at her blog.)
Oh goodness, that’s for the humm, lost the word, probably because it’s 3 am., you know what I mean, the, the, mention I guess. Oh dear I’m sleepy… Well, I must let you know that I didn’t write the book, I edited it three times, worked closely with the author getting it to the publisher and have since brought it over into our company and redid the inside and outside. It was written by John Solomon Sandridge, my business partner and friend.
I really like the playword, and what an excellent article !
Well, if we’re being too SOLID, that means that our own water has frozen and lost some of its best properties.
Absorb heat, and let the ice melt ?
Cheers !
You are having exactly the fun with this concept I was! Thanks for stopping by.