By Aldrin Sweeney-Williams
Aldrin is a Psychology graduate from the UK, with particular interest in the philosophical foundations of human interactions between each other, and nature. He enjoys photography, languages, and travelling.
Is it possible for you and me to know the true nature of a person’s soul from how we perceive that person to behave? One’s true intentions and motivations are seldom apparent from their behaviors and words, alone. If truth could be found in the concoction of behaviors and words, what need would there be for psychotherapists, journalists, or even courts of law? If he looks innocent, and says he is innocent, then surely, he must be innocent!
This world, as you might have noticed does not quite abide by those principles. More often than not, seeing is believing. Alas, what is seen, heard, and observed is more strongly related to our blueprint of reality, rather than the trueness of reality itself.
Consider the example of the red and black mirage painted across the vulnerable ladybug’s back, as it warns the onlooker “I’m vicious, and scary. For your own good, stay away!”. Is that ladybug vicious or vulnerable? Vulnerable on account of its fangless and clawless physique? Or vicious on account of its threatening, baleful demeanor? Arguably, both the spirit of vulnerability and viciousness are alive here. And that duality characterizes the nature of that ladybug – its fundamental vulnerability gives a certain rise to its viciousness.
Here, we denude the principle of immaterial essences. That is the idea that what gives something it’s distinct identity, is not necessarily the how it looks or behaves, but the essence of what it distinctly is, and what it distinctly is not.
A great example of this is related by Slavoj Žižek about the 1939 film, Ninotchka. In this film, a guest goes to café and orders a drink – coffee without cream. The waiter apologises and says that the café only has milk but no cream. He then goes on to offer the guest a coffee without milk, as an alternative to coffee without cream. Yes, materially the coffee would be the same, one way or another, it is black coffee, but the subtle difference which makes all the differences, is that they are essentially different entities.
Although it might seem like an abstract idea, we can find this principle everywhere, even in the most trivial of circumstances. For example, if you can imagine receiving a gift from your spouse on your birthday; something you’ve asked for and are excited to receive. How would you feel if after receiving the gift, your spouse hints to you that you are now required to tell your friends and family who gave you the gift and how happy it made you? Although ultimately you received the gift that you wanted, the essence of the gift is coloured by a subtle nuance that has changed its true nature. As it is with coffee and gifts, so it is with all things – especially water.
All around the world, across many different cultures, in film and literature, people consistently use idioms about water in such a reverent manner, as if acknowledging the fundamental essence of water. In the English-speaking world we speak of “Troubled waters” and “Still waters running deep”, for example, perhaps in an attempt to attribute through anthropomorphism, the emotions and experiences we have, to the essences we sense from different types of water.
Similarly, in the East, an idiom exists which roughly translates to – “Good rain knows when to fall”. This pathetic fallacy is an expression of those special times in life when the apotheosis of a substantial or tense event is appropriately greeted by the rain, at just the right time.
Not only is our relationship with water absolutely necessary for survival, but also, we are enriched and ennobled by its presence. From the heavy impassioned rain that falls in the romantic novel, to the elegant water that dances from city monuments, and the bellowing waters of bursting dams, wherever we find water, we deferentially recognize our humanity within it.
How can we make sense of this? Is our fond relationship with water, throughout time and across cultures somehow coincidental? I would strongly argue that it is not. When you observe how great swathes of land are sometimes beaten, sometimes caressed, sometimes befriended, and sometimes parted by pulchritudinous, itinerant rivers, they demand respect from us as spectators. There are moments when silence and appreciation are the only appropriate responses, as you realize that the spirit of the sacred is also alive within our rivers.
What’s more, over time you will realize that no two river flows are the same. Bodies of water are as distinct and diverse as coffee without cream, and coffee without milk. We come to find that the intricate formation of rivers, and the journeys they have taken over thousands, if not millions of years, are expressions of each of their independent, irreducible essences.
This is the essence that animates the river water and brings it to life. Each droplet is invigorated with that essential energy, in a similar way to how each one of our cells are invigorated by our DNA. Therefore, when extracting just one drop of water, that drop does not lose its vivacity. Rather than being cut off and deracinated from the river, it instead becomes a descendant of the river’s progeny. That irreducible essence is retained, ready to be brought forth and infused into new body bodies of liquid. In doing so, the immaterial aspect of the river extract permeates throughout the liquid, transfusing its characteristic essence into its new home. In this manner, the liquid is endowed with the sacred traits of the river.
Andrés Ruzo, the founder of the Boiling River Project, has been awarded the 2024 Lowell Thomas Award, one of the highest honors in travel and exploration. This prestigious prize, named after the legendary travel journalist, recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the field.
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Knowing if a stream is a brook, creek, or river can be confusing. Thinking of these streams as a city with its alleyways, side streets, and highways can help you visualize the distinctions between them.
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