Raise the Water Level

Above photograph is taken from
http://www.zhanghuan.com/ShowWorkContent.asp?id=39&iParentID=21&mid=1
There is a synopsis at the web page to explain the picture.


I don't like to be in the sea or the pool. I don't know how to swim, and I fear that I may drown. I am fine with a river cruise, or a voyage on a yacht, or a ride on a ferry, as long as the journey is short. I love to feel the sea breeze on my skin, but I get seasick. I look at the water surface, wondering at the secrets underneath. I stare at the distant shore and horizon and lament at the unreachable. I marvel at the waves, the tide, the current, the sound of water hitting shore, the mysterious forces of nature at work. The vast expanse of water makes me feel insignificant, and I realise that my existence is trivial, and nothing really matters, so what's the point of thinking about anything.


As I look at this picture, I am even more convinced that the lake, the sea, the pond, the river, are not for us to go into. We are not marine creatures. We can't conquer the sea. Why get into deep water ? In the Chinese language, above sea could mean Shanghai, and into the sea is the beginning of a life of darkness and misery.


Many times in history, the water levels had been raised by throwing bodies into the river, the canal, maybe even the well. Today we throw a lot more. Industrial waste. Into the water. Into the earth. Into the space. We still throw bodies into the sea. I recall the Archimedes Principle I learnt in the science lessons at school. An object immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the object.


Some walk into the sea and not want to walk away. Some dive into a river and remain submerged. The water gives life and the water takes life away. The problems in the mind, the thoughts, the emotions that weigh a ton on my shoulder, are weightless in the water.