Since it came to Earth, the water has been cycling through air, rocks, animals and plants. Each molecule has been on an incredible journey. When you feel alone, try to remember that at some point the water inside you would have been inside dinosaurs, or the ocean, or a polar ice-cap, or maybe a storm cloud over a faraway sea at a time when the sea was still nameless. Water crosses millennia and boundaries and borders.
Remember, we all have something in common, and that is the water that runs through us.
Christy Lefteri (from: Songbirds, a novel 2021)
Since 2013, I have been following writer Paul Salopek walking the Out of Eden Walk, along the pathways of the first humans who migrated out of Africa spreading across the planet. He is currently in China and this is latest video.
Whether we like it or not, we are all walking together into a bottleneck new century, with the climate crisis upon us, with gigantic gaps in income, with rising tribalism across ideologies, we face a pretty difficult path ahead, a panorama of uncertainty. The walk teaches me this: That we stand a better chance of survival by walking together, by learning from each other, by listening to each other's ideas, and by pulling each other up as we move forward. There is a very old, old joy in this approach. Every new day on my trail, whether I wake up in a Buddhist temple or the hut of a Sichuan yak herder, the word that floats to mind always as I lace up my boots for another day is the same. It's yes.
Paul Salopek
He's right of course but humans aren't very good at that sort of thing. As the climate gets worse I expect more intense tribalism and many more wars as we struggle with less habitable land and less potable water.
ReplyDeleteI love these words, ideas, beliefs. All true. We are all made of the same stuff and living lives on the same planet. We know this all the way down to our tiniest cells. When will we all wake up and recognize each other? I hope it is soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Sabine. Yes.
ReplyDeleteThese words are so gentle and wise. Not sure if humans have not gone over the edge completely or if there is a measure of kinship left.
ReplyDeleteI remember following Paul Salopek before but forgot his name over the past couple of years, so thank you for reminding me. I would to walk with him when he comes to Canada. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteThat quote about the same water running through all of us, I like this.
I remember as a child having the profound realization that the water I was drinking may have been drunk before by Cleopatra or...someone. Surely someone. I was amazed. I still am.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fantastic quote. I sometimes tell myself I need to say yes as much as possible. (Within reason, of course!)
ReplyDeleteI just loved that video. Thank you for posting it!
ReplyDeleteBoth quotes are just what I need to hear. Many thanks.
ReplyDeletewonderful post, and coincidentally, the rain is pouring down outside right now. Thunder and lightning, and a cool breeze coming through the window. Where has this water been? Almost everywhere,, I'm sure. - Tara
ReplyDeleteIt is true that we are all walking into a climate crisis
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the link to Smetana's "Moldau." I listened to it when I couldn't sleep last night and it sounded familiar but I wasn't sure where I had heard it before. Turns out it was part of the soundtrack of the movie "The Tree of Life." Music is a very old, old joy.
ReplyDelete