Perspectives on Water | 20/10/22

Perspectives On Water

Perspectives On Water

INTRODUCTION

If we asked you to think about water, where would your mind go? The ocean? Your water bottle? Your last holiday? A life force greater than one can describe?

In 2021, we were asked to explore what water means to people.

Water. Essential to our existence. Seen as a commodity. Both deeply respected and disrespected. Greatly explored yet undiscovered. Gentle as it is brutal. Ubiquitous yet scarce. An element that is taken for granted yet deeply admired.

How would you describe the role water plays in your life? Are words even enough to capture the essence of water?

61 members from The Sense Network across 18 countries came together to share their perspectives on water. Not simply to explain what water means to them but to express how it makes them feel. How it touches the senses; and how deeply emotional their connection with water is.

This book is the result of our journey. A collection of some of the most powerful reflections on water from around the world; brought to life with photographs from Jan Zühlke, Rakshita Arvind, Simon Freund and Lorenzo Cisi. Thoughts, feelings and stories that may inspire or challenge you to think differently about water.

We invite you to sink into The Sense Network’s reflections. See how other people think and feel about water. Expand your mind. With much gratitude, The Sense Worldwide Team

Alex Rückheim

Water is our main connection to the world.

From our bodies to the planet, it’s the element that makes us pulse.

Veronica Recalde

Rakshita Arvind Isle of Skye, Scotland

Rakshita Arvind Isle of Skye, Scotland

I am water.

The largeness of the bodies of water and the power water has to create and maintain life has always filled me with awe, and a sense of unity.

so are you.

And

Amber Stevens

Rakshita Arvind Isle of Skye, Scotland

“Have you ever laid in an open meadow and looked up at a bright blue sky, filled with puffy wispy white clouds? At some point, you start to feel endless, expansive, and like it goes on forever and ever. The only thing that holds you there is the earth underneath you.

That’s what the feeling of standing at the edge of the ocean brings.

Looking far beyond you. Feeling like it lasts forever. Even if you’re not by the ocean, being in a lake or a river can give you the feeling of getting lostwith your own body holding you in place.”

Jayne Chen

New York City, USA

Water deserves awe, and awe is equal parts beauty and fear.

Water gives us meaning. Taken by the current, we are embraced into a cycle much greater than ourselves.

Marynissen

In all our efforts to control water we can never forget that that control is a mere illusion. Interacting with nature forces us to accept powerlessness.

To be forced back into the natural rhythm of the world is always humbling, and I think necessary. I dream of building a life where I can follow this rhythm.

Simon Freund Cairo, Egypt

Simon Freund Ostsee, Germany

In water there are no boundaries. Just pure freedom.

Marta Velez

Natural water is as beautiful as it is vital. It provides something spectacular for every sense.

The sound of water is so soothing you can almost remember being in the womb. It cradles you and it calms you. The constant ebb and flow of the ocean, the trickle of a babbling brook.

The feeling of water is just like your bathtub, but larger than life. Your hand touches a cold mountain stream instantly revitalising your soul.

Abigail Breslin

The sight of a body of water is incomparable. It flows, it glistens, and it appears endless. It could be a cold dark blue or a warm aqua. It always takes my breath away.

The taste lingers on your lips. Imagine your salt water pool but one that stretches forever and it belongs to the world.

The smell of fresh water or salt water is tantalising. You can smell it from a distance. Imagine driving to the beach and rolling down the windows when you got close to the coast. A cool breeze with a hint of salt and ocean life.

Anoushka Veljee

Oceans, lakes, rivers, canals to me are pure magic! They are a thin veil between the seen and the unseen. A portal, an entryway and a peek into who we really are as humans

San Jose, USA

So much of our bodies are made of water and I believe this is the reason why we feel so connected to water.

Simon Freund Alexandria, Egypt

Our humanity is one with the land and so is our attachment to the waters.

Every time we swim, place ourselves in its essence, we are connecting back to our universal heritage.

Being near water has always somewhat made me feel connected to the universe ‘beyond me’. The awareness that there is time that exists beyond you, space that you will never touch, people you will never meet, knowledge you cannot reach.

Germany

Like blood that runs through our bodies, water flows, drops, roams, swooshes and pounds. I picture how, for our ancestors, water was where eternity took place; where one transcended their separation from others; where there was calm and echoing rumbling at once; where there was freedom and home at once; where there was a sense of everlastingness that connects us to a shared human path, past, present and future.

Gregor Bauer

Jan Zühlke

Germany

Rakshita Arvind Manningtree, UK

Being surrounded by water creates a positive feeling.

It allows me to breathe and reconnect with myself.

Emmanuel Peype

France

Take a blue sheet of paper and place it on the floor. Imagine the entire horizon in front of you covered in this sheet of bright blue paper. There’s a wonderful breeze in the air. The ground beneath you is breathing a beautiful green. When you put your hand on that sheet of blue, it goes straight through.

Your hand feels cool. You feel like you’re in a limbo. A home to millions. While it is calm and beautiful to look at, if you don’t respect it and try to best it, it will consume you. It is ruthless even at its calmest. It gives both sustenance and balance to this world.

Aaron Pinto

India

Lorenzo Cisi

When I know I will go surfing the next day, the excitement keeps me awake at night. I know that the following day could be one of the best in my life.

Lorenzo Cisi

USA

Jan Zühlke Dahme, Germany

We are bound more than anything else by water.

Pullen

Jan Zühlke

Plakias, Greece

Rakshita Arvind Amritsar, India

Water is a life force that is tranquil yet brutal at the same time. It brings nature to life.

Water can bring tranquillity, as you watch it shimmer on the surface when the sun shines upon it.

When the wind blows over the surface of water, you can sometimes hear the soft “swish swish” as it folds in on itself, and sometimes the loud crashes like lightning.

If you’re not careful, you could get caught up in its surge and be pulled into an abyss.

Lo

The air that hangs over water is somehow more crisp; the ripples, the froth, and the swaying reflections it produces put the best of our painters to shame; the ducks and gulls bobbing adorably on its surface are really quite funny if you watch closely. I love the sounds of water, be it a softly gurgling creek or a thrashing, stormy seafront.

It manages to reach into the deepest recesses of my mind. It gently fills up the empty spaces, leaving little room for intrusive thoughts and worries that almost never leave me alone. Being around water helps me think, helps me breathe deeper, and helps me flow.

Ari Joshi

UK

As a scientist, I know water is an essential element composed of three atoms. As a surgeon, water is part of my daily routine.

Nevertheless, when I think about water, special memories of my life become vivid. The time spent in our family house on the beach or the long sea crossing on our yacht. The sweet sound of water reminds me of Italy, my country, my home. The sunset on the beach, the light wind and salty skin. The sense of peace when walking by the sea in the evening. The freedom of running on the waterfront. Happy hour on the beach with my friends, in a fancy bikini and sunglasses.

Water reminds me, indeed, of my past and stands for my future. As I know, soon I will go back to our family house on the beach, half an hour from Rome, drinking a glass of prosecco at sunset.

Francesca Gatta

Jan Zühlke

Agia Galini, Greece

Rakshita Arvind

UK

I grew up going fishing in the lakes of Canada with my dad and wherever I travel I find myself being drawn to the water. To feel the motion of the waves. The push and pull to let Mother Nature take over and guide me has been a feeling that provides me with great serenity.

There is a lightness to being near and in the water. Calm. It surrounds you and engulfs you at the same time. The sway of the water once inside, gently pushes and pulls you, transporting you to a serene place. A place that makes you feel as if everything is nothing, and nothingness is everything.

You’re reminded of the natural sway of nature when in water. It is a place where you can truly let go and relinquish control. With the feeling that something greater than you will be there to surround you.

The feeling of sitting on the beach and gazing out into the ocean is one I wish I could convey to you; it is one of limitlessness and freedom.

When you look out to the horizon and the ocean keeps going until eternity, you can rest remembering you are but a small speck in a large world.

Kristen Brotemarkle

Jan Zühlke Dahme, Germany

Jan Zühlke

I think words may not be enough to describe the charm of water.

Amandine Yuan

Featured Images

Cover

Photograph by Lorenzo Cisi. Himmafushi, Maldives.

p. 3

Photograph by Rakshita Arvind. Isle of Skye, Scotland.

p. 4

Photograph by Rakshita Arvind. Isle of Skye, Scotland.

p. 6-7

Photograph by Rakshita Arvind. Isle of Skye, Scotland.

p. 11

Photograph by Simon Freund. Cairo, Egypt.

p. 12

Photograph by Simon Freund. Ostsee, Germany.

p. 17

Photograph by Simon Freund. Alexandria, Egypt.

p. 21

Photograph by Jan Zühlke. Berlin, Germany.

p. 22

Photograph by Rakshita Arvind. Manningtree, UK.

p. 26

Photograph by Lorenzo Cisi. Himmafushi, Maldives.

p. 28-29

Photograph by Jan Zühlke. Dahme, Germany.

p. 31

Photograph by Jan Zühlke. Plakias, Greece.

p. 32

Photograph by Rakshita Arvind. Amritsar, India.

p. 37

Photograph by Jan Zühlke. Agia Galini, Greece.

p. 38

Photograph by Rakshita Arvind. Whitstable, UK.

p. 41

Photograph by Jan Zühlke. Dahme, Germany.

p. 42

Photograph by Jan Zühlke. Schwielochsee, Germany.

p. 2

Quote by Veronica Recalde. La Pedrera, Uruguay.

p. 5

Quote by Amber Stevens. New York City, USA.

p. 8-9

Quote by Jayne Chen. New York City, USA.

p. 10

Quote by Kaat Marynissen. Manchester, UK.

p. 13

Quote by Marta Velez. London, UK.

p. 14-15

Quote by Abigail Breslin. Nashville, USA.

p. 16

Quote by Anoushka Veljee. San Jose, USA.

p. 18-19

Quote by Dennis Grant. Chicago, USA.

p. 20

Quote by Gregor Bauer. Berlin, Germany.

p. 23

Quote by Emmanuel Peype. Paris, France.

p. 24-25

Quote by Aaron Pinto. Mumbai, India.

p. 27

Quote by Lorenzo Cisi. Los Angeles, USA.

p. 30

Quote by Jude Pullen. London, UK.

p. 33

Quote by Anabel Lo. Perth, Australia.

p. 34-35

Quote by Ari Joshi. Berlin, Germany.

p. 36

Quote by Francesca Gatta. Cambridge, UK.

p. 39

Quote by Wen Ye. New York City, USA.

By

p. 40

Quote by Kristen Brotemarkle. Portland, USA.

p. 43

Quote by Amandine Yuan. Shanghai, China.

Rückheim and Rakshita Arvind

Rückheim

Arvind

Photography By Jan Zhülke, Lorenzo Cisi, Rakshita Arvind and Simon Freund

Perspectives on Water

A collection of thoughts, feelings and stories from members of The Sense Network that may inspire or challenge you to think differently about water.