There is a hidden message in every waterfall.
It says if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you!
~ Mehmet Murat ildan
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I think this quote is a good example of the power of nature and how we use it to make meaning or draw stories or understand ourselves in the context of the larger world. We're always talking about the significance of trees or air or water or earth. Well, not always. Sometimes we sleep and do our jobs and forget to talk and think about those things. Which is sad. Well, not that we sleep. We need to sleep.
My point is that there are amazing messages in nature if we take the time to look at and listen to them. The knowledge we need for our own peace - and the peace of others - is all around us. We just fail to capitalize on it sometimes. But there are moments - maybe few, certainly precious - when the we realize that the natural world does make sense.
I do think we need to share these things with children. To help them understand the importance of nature. But we need to be careful doing that. The above quote, for example... A child who hasn't developed critical thinking skills might think that it means that literally falling over a waterfall won't hurt her. It will, child. It will. You may be flexible, but those rocks and stuff aren't.
I guess there is a message in that, too. There are people and events and behaviors in our lives which are rocks. They can guide us, but they can hurt us, too. Rock stars can do that, as well. Yes you, Dave Navarro. You know what you did.
Another hidden message in "every waterfall" is: "Feel Wary? Travel." Also "Wave, Ferret Ally!" But that doesn't make a lot of sense.
In summary: enjoy nature, teach your children well, and words are toys.
