Up river

The familiar sensation of current against my face, my arms struggle to gain purchase as sheets of water fall towards me. Each ebbing bubble of liquid barreling against my forehead on its ecological journey from the skies to the ocean. The river tumbles down and over me. My muscles scream with frantic contraction, fight to stay afloat in a swift explosion of natural and effortless energy. 

“I’ve been here before” a realization races by in between the gasps for air as water washes over my lips against the current. Where am I going, I question? Nowhere, I admit. 

Remembering, my effort eases. I chuckle at myself and imagine myself swimming in a current pool, going nowhere. I roll over, out of position and allow my body to float, face up, as if floating in air, a free fall. The current grasps me. I can feel the gentle acceleration as the water carries me along on its journey like a twig or a small log. 

The seam of the current nestles me into its grasp. Together we journey effortlessly through pools and eddies. Spinning and turning. Rollercoastering through rapids my limbs Gumby about but I stay afloat easily. We accelerate through chokes and slow at ponds. 

The treetops and clouds pass by above. Endlessly changing and flowing just as the river. 

There is no effort, yet I am moving. There is no need to turn as the river twists. No need to paddle as the current slows. Like the water I don’t need to mind the direction. And just like water, I carve my way, without any intention beyond the natural force of my being. There is no effort in power. No decision prior to action. Movement flows on its own as we watch and float by. Carving our path back to the ocean again and again. Remembering over and over again to let the current take us.