There’s a spring just a few steps from my house. The French word for a spring is “source” which is pronounced with an “oo” in the middle. When you see the same word in English you hear it as “soar” not “soor”. In my head I hear both those prononciations at the same time. So experience this as both a spring of water and a starting point, an origin, at the same time.
Water is like that – it is probably the origin point for Life, and therefor for our ancestors. When we send spacecraft to explore other planets we are on the lookout for water, because we know that without water, there will be no Life, at least, not as we know it.
Although the water in La Source is crystal clear, no matter how hard I look I can’t see it arriving. But I know it is always arriving because it continuously tumbles over the edge and into the Roman aqueduct. This amazes me every time. The pool looks absolutely still, apart from where the water leaves it to enter the stone channel.
Stillness and constant flow together.
I suppose our bodies are a bit like that. Moment by moment, apart from the movement of my chest with my breath, I’m not really aware of my body changing. I feel pretty solid, with clear edges or borders, this skin which lets me connect, or touch, beyond myself, whilst simultaneously acting as a border defence which separates me from the rest of the world.
But in fact my body is flow. The trillions of cells in, and on, my body are constantly changing, subject to continuous flows of information, energy and particles, constantly metabolising (building up and breaking down)
Strange, but true.
Heroes Not Zombies 
Leave a Reply