I was a little grumbly this morning as both my roommates beat me to the shower, so I turned it into an opportunity to meditate.  It occurred to me that I hold deep, loving, intimate connections with the elements of Earth, Nature, Spirit, and Mineral – but Water, I need to spend more time with the water spirits.  It’s so easy to take water for granted.  It’s everywhere (in the west), it is in us and all around us.  We are fortunate to be able to turn on a faucet and take a hot bath or relax with a cup of tea.

As a child, I was in love with the ocean.  Something about it’s vastness was strangely comforting to me.  It was easy to swim out on the east coast and I would dare myself to swim out as far as I could so I could feel myself in the great expanse of it.  To feel the beauty in it’s power. To gaze upon it was/is to feel the infinite possibilities of life.

It’s easy to forget that water has energy, spirit and magic. It’s not meant to be a commodity.  It’s not meant to be withheld from some and a privilege to others. She is meant to be free. She is meant to be honored with reverence and respect as we would honor ourselves.  She is the elixir of life and a force to be reckoned with. She is deep and wise and flowing with grace and forgiveness. We cannot grow without her.

Is it possible to take a moment each day to pause and reflect and give thanks?  To offer kind words and loving thoughts before we take a sip and in doing so drink into ourselves those loving reflections?  Offering the same to the oceans, rivers, and streams that all beings that dwell there may receive as well?  It takes but a moment to make such an offering but the lasting implications are as vast as the great ocean herself.