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| photo from google images |
"Water, water every where but not a drop to drink....."
"Water can save a dying man or it can kill him..."
These have always been two of my favourite quotes, or rather two I've always been most mindful of. As i sit here now, in my chair at my computer, having only minutes ago returned from the kitchen where i decided i wasn't hungry enough to eat supper yet so i would just 'fill my belly' with water (and so did) As i sit hear reflecting on those quotes i cant help but feel touched...doesn't that sound silly?
It's true though, would you believe me if i told you that water is very close to my heart? Like a very close friend or even like a family member would sound more accurate. We have a beautiful relationship water and i and when ever we are parted, even for a little while i miss it...and i feel...when we reunite i feel...like it misses me too.
Because my whole body longs for it so much it creates it, perfidiously i sweat it....
I can not drink sweat
And while i literally bleed it from pores all over my body? My throat trembles for it, my tongue longs and aches for it, i am so sorrowful and so lonely without it i can barely speak for lack of it and my body creates more placebos: saliva, and if i give my body the chance? even tears!
I will not drink sweat or saliva or tears.
I continue to want it and almost go crazy with my lust for it, it's like it's calling me, whispering in my ear on the wind, longing for me too, begging me to find it and reunite it with my body...
Water, water every where but not a drop to drink.....
because of this feeling i try to make sure that I'm never far from it, so i carry a large bottle of it in my bag everyday, it does not matter if it is from a spring, cold, or hot or warm because our love..i like to think our 'co-dependence' is stronger than that.
the only criteria i ask of it is that it be clean, the only thing it asks of me everyday is that i protect it.
Protect it from the worlds negligence, because it's self esteem is not strong you see and it has a quick temper, all it wants to do is love but it has taken harsh blows from humanity and has dealt some too. There has been some bad blood but we want it to be water under the bridge. Problem is, water never forgets, the good news is water forgives easily, the bad news is water hits in hatred hard....but caresses in love tenderly...
Water asks for my protection however i can give it, simple ways like closing stray taps so that it's liquid love does not go down the drain. Water ask that i not neglect it by passing those cries for attention, those signs that scream 'love me! remember me! appreciate me!' with thoughts like 'not my problem' and 'it wasn't me' because water can feel those intentions...isn't that a scarier thought than closing a tap?
And that is when the neglect sinks deep. That is when the rage grows and expands slowly.
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.Lao Tzu
And what when we feel the wrath of our liquid lover scorned...?
Alone in the aftermath, crumbled and creating it ourselves from longing we reach, search heaven and earth;the sky for rain the ground for wells, for water. Tipping it to our mouths it quenches us without question, loves us all the way inside, fills up 80 percent of our body, reminds us that it's always been there and always wants to be there...with us...in us...around us...
Water can save a dying man or it can kill him...
I live on a Caribbean island, i am literally surrounded by water at every directional point, i see it glistening everyday, i feel it's heat all over my body, cleaning me and dirtying me everyday. Missing me and filling me up everyday and sometimes, when i make my way down to the beautiful oceans' edge so that we can unite in a grand state? i feel it's cold caress in all of my senses at once...
What have i overlooked during our love affair however?
# A Human Right: In July, to address the water crisis, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right over. But we are far from implementing solutions to secure basic access to safe drinking water.
# 40 Billion Hours: African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.
# 38,000 Children a Week: Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.
# Wars Over Water: Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.
# Cell Phones vs. Toilets: Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets, but many more have access to a cell phone.
# Food Footprint: It takes 24 litres of water to produce one hamburger. That means it would take over 19.9 billion liters of water to make just one hamburger for every person in Europe.
# Technology Footprint: The shiny new iPhone in your pocket requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that’s 40 million litres to charge those alone.
# Fashion Footprint: That cotton t-shirt you’re wearing right now took 1,514 litres of water to produce, and your jeans required an extra 6,813 litres
But don't take my word for it! Please! Check it out yourself, visit: blog action day 2010 for all the facts and figures! Photo above taken from google images no copyright infringement intended
This post written for Blog Action Day 2010
