Water

I find I can truly ground myself amid trees, animals, and Oklahoma plains, curves, mountains, rivers, creeks, and lakes. Granted, the heat here is rather wet- a humidity that can zap one's energy before you even get to your car from your dwelling. The cicadas are no longer filling the air with screams after emerging from the ground and temperatures are no longer causing heat advisories through the state.

Autumn is on the way. Leaves are beginning to change as the trees prepare for the colder months.

Once a month I find I must ground myself by immersing myself in nature.

I only learned this about myself this year after a good friend and I traveled to the different swimmable lakes of Oklahoma- finding neat rocks, shells, fossils, and fun- Finding a way to keep what sanity we have left during these Covid times.

It was also then that I started taking a serious look at humanity's toll on the environment we cohabitate with other creatures of this world. The fact that if we continue on this trend with nonrenewable resources being exploited we will soon face a very Mad Max future. Pieces of plastic so small only a microscope can see them are turning up in fish from the markets. Trash lines the parking lot edges, along the fence in our apartment complex. The dumpsters are often overloaded and swarmed with flies. Living in Hope Valley never seemed so hopeless.

I hope to change that. One person at a time. One day at a time.

In the waters, I find peace; only my gurgles of excitement breaking the silence and tranquility. I find so many neat fossils and shells from expired mussels. But I also find discarded plastic bottles, glass, aluminum cans, fishing lines, and several hooks. Crystal clear waters in the morning are like panes of glass, allowing me a glimpse into an entirely different world. Crawfish peek out from under their home rocks and fishes of various sizes circle and swim about searching for food. But sometimes the food is actually plastic.

Which is where my internal tug.. my intuition.. is telling me to join the movement towards renewable resources and biodegradable solutions for packaging and shipping. Humans as a species cannot afford to continue being apathetic about a little plastic here or there. If it can't be reabsorbed by the earth it needs to be collected and placed in an appropriate bin. I have actually started bringing a trash bag to fill each time I adventure to lake Skiatook or Bluestem.

The element of water is in all of us. It goes way back past when the ocean and river deities were normally worshipped, guided by Venus, Neptune, and the Moon. We use it to bathe and associate it with feelings or dreams. Baths not only cleanse our physical bodies but also assist with metaphysical washing, bringing love, healing, protection, and prosperity with regular and proper use. Rainwater, spring water, saltwater, holy water, Florida water (a special voodoo holy water readily available in occult supply shops), and witches' consecrated water are all considered sacred waters. It's also said that the best places to leave offerings are near or in bodies of water such as rivers or oceans. The oceans are also responsible for the majority of the oxygen we breathe since humans are tearing down trees in the amazon en masse. Clean it up!

All water is sacred. In this modern world, we take it for granted too often. Wildlife is suffocating from human apathy to littering. Wildlife that we as a species depend on to continue existing. Biodegradable alternatives most definitely exist. I'm surprised that hemp plastics aren't absolutely booming but we are in the land of oil. Conservatism is high, stuck in an unsustainable loop we need to part from.

We all need to do better. Be better. I plead for the sake of this earth and our continued time to enjoy our short existence when put into perspective of space and time. Our being here is a blink of an eye in the entirety of existence. Lets make the best of it and fill it with love, light, and art.. not trash, death, and ignorance.

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