My favourite place to be in the whole wide world is in water – oceans, rivers and yes bubble baths….you don’t get the nickname “the mermaid” for nothing!  From the shores of the St. Lawrence and the sandy dune beaches of Halifax’s Atlantic coast to the rocky ridges of the Pacific, the scared waves of India’s Ganges and of course the magic coca cola-coloured Kamperslut river up at my cottage – it is my bliss.

Being in a river brings me an enormous sense of peace and calm. It teaches me that beauty, energy, and yes life is ever changing.  As a super speedy, chipmunk on caffeine…I need to be reminded of this lesson often.

In the winter she sleeps, things slow down to a standstill until the spring thaw awakens with a crack and volcanic eruption of ice castles taking their last trip down the river. She is a force of nature – gushing, steadfast, cleansing the season and preparing a new path for the new season. She swells, overflows with the dissolve of winter, saturating the earth so to help sow the seeds of spring. At times she is ferocious, dangerous and deep; while other times meandering, babbling and even completely parched.

Just like life is like “a box of chocolates”….life is also a lot like a river.  Ebbs and flows, turbulent and tranquil; full and empty. Is it moving too fast or going too slow?  Are there nasty rocks in your way?  How do you maneuver the rapids?  And Geez Louise sometimes all I want to do is float, but most often I just want to know…where pray tell is this wandering river taking me?

I have a mantra I say to myself whenever my molecules go a little wacky and worrisome. I say “just be in the river”; then I go there in my mind’s eye to recall the sensation of the water moving around me, tickling my knees, feeling the little rapids ripple through my legs….thinking they all know exactly where they are going without a care in the world. Then I have a seat on my favourite log, feel protected until she sometimes surprises me with a playful splash and reminds me it’s just water. Other times I walk across to the far side, lie down and bathe in her Buddha-like pools and just let the swirls lull me into a state of bliss.

I invite you to step into the river. Immerse yourself, trust and embrace the flow of your life.