River

How could drops of water know themselves to be a river?

Yet the river flows on.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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I wonder sometimes how important it is to know in a given moment that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. I think sometimes it is important. I think as a general rule it is good to bear in mind that we are not alone and that our actions affect others and the environment and the world.

Sometimes though, isn't it okay if we don't know that what we are doing is bigger than it appears? Isn't it okay if we take action just because it is what is right?

Or can we even separate those things? Are they so closely linked - the self + the action + the world - that we can't separate them any more easily than we can distinguish drops of water from the river?

Well, sometimes you can distinguish those things, right? Like when water splashes up and you get hit in the face with spray when you are whitewater rafting? Or when the droplets catch the sun and create a prism?

Sometimes drops of water aren't a part of a river. Sometimes they are part of a rainbow. Sometimes they are a part of a puddle. Sometimes they are part of an ice cube.

My point here is that what you do matters and is a part of something bigger than yourself.  And if you fall in a river, you're like a drop of rain, only you don't blend in as much.

Which is good if you want someone to help you out of that river.