Leave the water running

Some days are just not your days. They just will not go the way you want them to, even if you welcome them with your arms wide open. And some people are just not the kind of people you want to have as your company on those days. They are just so good at making bad days more miserable, they make you wish you could bid them farewell before even greeting them.

 

Sometimes, you just cannot wait for the day to be over and part with those you spent it with. But just as fast as the day and the people go, so do the next day and people come. You have to find some way to put the issues aside, leave your feelings behind, and move on. We all do.

 

So, I find it interesting – and somehow encouraging – that the expression used to describe this process is exactly the same between English and my mother tongue (although ours is not as explicit): water under the bridge. It seems that in both languages, we try to let running water carry away malevolence and impurities.

 

Maybe we think in different ways and talk different languages.

Maybe, even when we think and talk the same, we feel and react differently.

Maybe these differences are harder to accept when they arise from within, and cause greater dissonance among those who want to appear the same.

 

But maybe it is better to let them all out and have them be carried away by running water than allow them to sink and muddy still water.

 

The month of June, in my mother tongue, is also referred to as the “Month of Water.” Water plays a key role this month – we rely on it to allow crop (most importantly rice) to grow and ripen, but try to avoid it from disrupting our lives during the rainy season which comes around this time of the year. I would normally advise and practice water conservation, especially in the Month of Water.

 

Nevertheless, on some days when they are just not your days, and with some people who just seem to pollute your days, maybe it is ecologic to leave the water running. Sometimes, it is good for maintaining your well-being and a healthy relationship with your environment.

 

… But if it makes you feel guilty leaving the water running, I will scribble in the next post a little bit about how I try to conserve water elsewhere.