Softening in the Wild Heart of Medicine : Water

Founders note: This is the end of Jonathan Edward’s five inventive essays on the five phase elements. You can read about fire, earth, wood and metal. Please feel free to comment on any of these essays and start a conversation with the author, who just GRADUATED FROM NATIONAL COLLEGE OF NATURAL MEDICINE – CONGRATULATIONS, JONATHAN!  I’ve set myself up for it this time. What could I possibly have to say about water that you, fair reader, don’t already know? (ohwaterwhispertome) As if I have some special insight into this most ubiquitous of elements, the sine qua non of biological life– (makemesoftlikeyouwater) Truly, if I know anything about relating to the spirit of water, it is because I have spent so much of my life out-of-balance with water. (waterwaterwashmeclean) Afraid of its depths, its cold. Dismissive of its simplicity, its neutrality. Taking for granted its magic and mystery. (ohwaterteachmehowtoflow) Yet here I am, and I offer what I have to offer: a story. A story about water, about hardness softening, about surrender, and grace. *** One morning this past winter–it was MLK, Jr. Day–I awoke and heard water’s call. Down by the Riverside was playing loud and clear on the inner radio, and having no plans, I set out on a walk. Down to the riverside indeed, to the Willamette, which flows a few miles from my then-apartment. It was a brilliant, crisp day, a rare thing in Portland, and it reminded me of what I still think of as “real w...
Source: Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine - Category: Alternative Medicine Practitioners Authors: Tags: Foundational Science Source Type: blogs