| "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink..." | | | | without tears and true remorse, forgiveness or |
| I first read Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rhyme of | | | | transformation is hard to obtain.In technical sense, there |
| the Ancient Mariner when I was in high school. | | | | is such a process called desalination that takes the salt |
| Alongside with Poe's Annabel Lee, Ulalume, and | | | | out of sea water and makes it usable and drinkable. If |
| Raven, this was one of those first verse-epics that | | | | so, why can't we take the salt out of relating to one |
| made me love narrative poetry.The ancient mariner | | | | another and never feel the thirst?As there has to be a |
| himself was an alienated traveler as most of us are | | | | catalyst to take the salt out of the sea water, and I |
| on earth. As blundering roamers on our planet, we too | | | | believe there are catalysts to take the salt out of the |
| slip and slide into unwanted, dangerous predicaments. | | | | ocean of people in regard to our relationships with |
| No wonder! When one becomes alien to the inner | | | | them. One of these catalysts starts with will for good, |
| workings of any thing or place, one is destined to | | | | not just to do good, but also to see, hear, say, think, |
| make mistakes in or out of water.Water is one of the | | | | and intend good. These are very difficult things to do |
| most important natural resources, vital for any living | | | | and they may take more than a lifetime to perfect, |
| thing. All kinds of theories on water conservation, from | | | | since we first have to unlearn age-old suspicions and |
| water harvesting to desalination to waste water | | | | the way we look at each other.Another catalyst has |
| management, has been put on the table. Specifically, | | | | to be love and acceptance. For this, we have to get |
| drinking water has encouraged the creative urges of | | | | rid of our fear of getting hurt. This too is very difficult |
| the public health professionals as well as the sales | | | | because self-protection is a natural instinct.Yet, man |
| pitches of the fly-by-night, money-hungry, and wily | | | | becomes human only when he can corral natural |
| sales people.Commercial concerns aside, betraying | | | | instincts and tame them to feel his own positive |
| nature has its consequences as the ancient mariner | | | | presence on earth. When we identify ourselves with |
| did by shooting the albatross. Still, the nature was kind | | | | our fears, we influence and restrict our emotional |
| and forgiving since it forgave the ancient mariner when | | | | make-up into loneliness.How we look at ourselves and |
| he showed remorse, and I am sure nature will also | | | | how we identify ourselves within an ocean of people, |
| forgive our past mistakes and keep providing for us if | | | | with no fear, with acceptance of others, with good |
| we change our messy ways.If we don't know how to | | | | intentions will help us transcend our limitations and will |
| use our resources, our water supply, or our oceans, | | | | facilitate our unity with others. Then, we won't need to |
| whose fault is this?Water connects us to life, as do | | | | say: "water, water everywhere, nor any drop to |
| our relationships and our bond to humankind. With | | | | drink."Joy Cagil is an author on a site for Creative |
| nearly six billion people on earth, at one time or another, | | | | Writers ( ) |
| most of us have felt not just alone but also | | | | Her education is in foreign languages and linguistics. |
| lonely.When we watch the way our own body | | | | She has also trained in psychology, science, mental |
| systems and our psyche works, we understand the | | | | health, and humanities. |
| value of water. Without water there is no cleansing; | | | | |