Daughter of the River

When I was a little girl, I was deathly afraid of running water. My grandmother said it was because one of my older siblings tried to drown me when I was a baby. I don’t remember where the fear came from, but I knew that the only water I found solace in was bath water. Somehow I knew the power of running water and it resonated with me through fear. It was my godmother who eventually helped me to break my fear. When she would wash my hair in her kitchen sink, she would say to me that the water couldn’t hurt me. Anytime I became afraid she would stop washing until I was comfortable. I trusted my godmother, and eventually began to enjoy the flow of water running through my thick hair and cooling my scalp.

Have you ever stood in the river, or sat on her banks? Have you ever felt her power and strength, or listened to her song? Have you ever observed how the river takes what it is given and carries it away with her current? Have you ever bathed in her fresh water and feel the grime fall from you? Have you ever taken a moment to observe the abundance of life sources that grow from her essence and give to us? Have you seen how she is able to flow through the most difficult spaces and transform them?

I am grateful for my godmother, who taught me to be at peace with who I am, a daughter of the river. Ase.