I live in the Chicago area… and today is a day we all have to deal with water in its many various forms - especially the forms of ice, snow, and rain!

But it has brought to my mind some very interesting themes I keep stumbling across.

First, I have lived my whole life feeling physically oriented around water one way or another. In my youngest years, I remember feeling very drawn to and safe with a place we simply called “the reservoir”. It was a set of three connected small man made lakes in my home town - but to the eyes of a small child, they seemed wild and vast.

Soon after that, I became oriented to the closest of the great lakes - Lake Erie. I spent most of my early life near this lake, and visited it frequently.

My family has also always been oriented towards this lake… so much so that my mother, who passed away recently, has requested that we return her remains to that lake.

I also have this vivid memory of going on an all night fishing trip with my father to one of the piers near Huron, Ohio - and watching with absolute amazement and a good deal of fear as the lake began to churn with an approaching storm, and swept up over the pier, forcing us to leave before morning.

I have many powerful memories associated with that lake.

Back in 2000, I moved from that area to an area that to me seemed like a whole new world - the Chicago area. But I was instantly oriented towards another of the great lakes… this time, Lake Michigan.

I drew power and strength from this lake through some very hard times in my life.

More recently, I have moved a little farther away from the lake, but find myself almost equally drawn to the Fox River. I love this river with all of its various moods and twists and turns. Watching it flow through the seasons this past year has been a joyous journey for me. It is always ready to match me in the moment - bring back to my mind the ineffable qualities I cherish in life - resiliency, flow, and the power of nature.

Zooming into the moment, I was wonderfully amused when listening yesterday to a speaker who was delivering a message about how to better tune into one’s own awareness… about how to develop one’s deeper and broader senses, and one of the very first things this person recommended was to drink more water!

And in a fast moving discussion last night with a fascinating group of people, a friend brought up the whole concept of The Hidden Messages in Water, based on the work of Masaru Emoto.

So today, I am drinking more water, having fun with this last little blast of winter, and simply feeling much appreciation for the role water has always played in my life.