Body of Water

Hello hello!

This week I’m writing to remind you that you are a body of water.

On average, the human body is 60% water, contained in the tissues, blood, and bones. This water is also contained in various body fluids, like plasma, lymph, bile, tears, urine, and synovial and cerebrospinal fluid. Though we appear to be solids, with a defined shape and volume, our shape is changeable through movement, reflective of the degree to which we are liquid.

Synovial fluid is a large part of what makes movement possible. It lubricates and cushions our joints. It reduces friction between the cartilage and protects joints from impact. It also delivers oxygen and nutrients and removes carbon dioxide and metabolic waste from cartilage cells. This last task, the exchange of nutrients and waste, is performed by moving the joint. The same is true of the discs that stack in between the vertebrae of the spine. Motion creates hydration. But it’s also the hydration that makes our motion possible.

And we have such vast choices we can make in how we move. We can be swift and powerful, like a flooded river narrowing through a gorge, or we can be still and placid, like a small pond. We find a way through the smallest cracks and crevices to deeply carve ourselves into this world. Who we are and how we move is as fluid and adaptable as the infinite forms and shapes water may take on this earth.