Snot-nosed and eyes burning among the ceaseless waves of Kwazulu Natal's warm Indian Ocean, playing on South Africa’s shoreline, between warning flags ...

With my fellow vacation-goers within sight, it is a strangely communal experience. As South Africans, this is our own unique way in which we celebrate water. 

I've had boogie boards smash into my body. I have face-planted on the shoreline after being hurled over by a wave that has no right to be that enormous. I have even witnessed individuals screaming post-blue-bottle sting. 

That said, these holidays always served as a healing experience for me. Combined with the cleansing bite of the salt water and the strange connection I felt swimming beside my fellow South Africans, I felt purged and connected by unspoken bonds.

Water represents a place of healing where I can reconnect with myself and become somewhat reborn–and we know that this is not a unique experience throughout society. Water benefits us in so many ways that it has become vital to form a relationship with it.

Water Relationship And Connecting to The Self ...

Christianity And Rebirth

Many of us are aware of Christianity’s baptism or born-again customs. Baptism, whether at birth or in the act of being born again, is not just a commitment to the Christan God. It is also a spiritual rebirth, a cleansing, and, ultimately, an improvement of the self. 

Judaism And Milestones

Judaism also uses H2O as a tool for self-advancement or, more specifically, to mark periods of religious and personal milestones.  These milestones include conversions and marriages; in more progressive circles, they mark more secular milestones, such as graduations. It can also be used to mark trauma healing. 

Mikevh is a ritual bath built into the ground, usually with stairs for the individual to walk down into it. This tradition has many steps and rules, such as entering the body of aqua wholly naked and immersing oneself completely. 

Buddhism And Greed

Buddhism is a philosophy or religion that emphasises connection and self-reflection. Its many sects include H2O rituals that mark milestones, cleanse bad deeds or remedy greed. 

This greed-related ritual is part of Vajrayana BuddH2hism. They dedicate seven bowls of H2O to a Buddha statue, which is viewed as a representation of purity.  

Water And Secular Connections to the Self

Freediving 

It is well-known that yoga practices, a widely used tool for personal development, are helpful for freediving. Multiple yoga retreats are even available for the sport.

However, some view the sport as a yogic practice in and of itself. Writing for 'Yoga Journal,' diver James Sturz expresses: 

"If yoga is about stillness and mindfulness, free diving is its underwater version."

She talks about feeling one with the H2O and compares it to breath-holding meditation. However, she reports that this meditation would occur in a tank 

"large enough to cover 70 percent of the globe."

Surfing 

Many surfers view surfing not solely as a sport but as a personal and spiritual philosophy, including many ideas of self-improvement. More specifically, echoes of the sport as an exercise in meditation and mindfulness, as well as surrender and trust, are heard all across the shores. 

In his book "Surfing with Satre: An Aquatic Inquiry Into A Life of Meaning," University of California Professor and Surfer Aaron James digs deeper into the surfer-sea relationship. He elaborates on the interlaced nature of surfing and the meaning of life. James concludes: 

"What the surfer knows, in knowing how to ride a wave, bears on questions for the ages — about freedom, control, happiness, society, our relation to nature, the value of work, and the very meaning of life."

Water Issues, Scarcity, And Its Hold On People's Internal Lives ...

Roque Dalton's Perception of Poetry

There is a beloved Spanish poem by late revolutionary and poet Roque Dalton with the translated title "Like You," which reads: 

"Like you, I love love, life, the sweet smell of things, the sky-blue/ landscape of January days. And my blood boils up/ and I laugh through eyes/that have known the buds of tears. /I believe the world is beautiful and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone. And that my veins don't end in me/ but in the unanimous blood/of those who struggle for life, love, little things, landscape and bread, the poetry of everyone."

The poem is a declaration of community with everyone in society, but the phrase "and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone" stands out. This phrase significantly implies that poetry or the beautiful parts of life are just as essential for living as the basic necessities. 

Some sublime aspects, such as art and music, tug the beauty of life right to the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy. In other words, our relationship with the elixir of life benefits us, not only physically but on a core, and some would say spiritual level. 

Water Issues, Lack of Poetry, And The Right to Celebrate Water ...

Of course, the wet stuff is a basic necessity, and this comes first and foremost, with water issues and scarcity plaguing individuals across the globe. However, it is not such a leap to speculate that individuals worldwide are also losing out on a relationship with themselves due to this scarcity.

This bond with agua and the relationship with themselves is what we shatter when we don’t, as a society, take collective responsibility for this precious resource. We not only have the right to access water but the right to celebrate water. 

Watch the video below from TaiwanPlus News showing the water loving people of Thailand as they celebrate H2O during Songkran, The Thai New Year Celebration. Heck, the Songkran Wikipedia Page mentions H2O 33 times. WOW. #CheckItOutYourself.

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