“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”
~Joseph Campbell

All rivers flow in spirals. I was shocked when I learned this fact, and yet it instantly felt true to me. The reason for the spiraling motion has to do with the resistance to flow at the edges of the river where water meets solid land.  Without resistance at its edges, the river would simply flow in a straight line down the “tube” defined by the riverbanks. Instead, the water continuously rolls and spirals over itself, changing in speed and direction depending on how close to the riverbank it finds itself. 

The spiral, rolling movement is what makes every river meander from side to side like a snake writhing on the ground. Natural rivers always meander, cutting into one bank and shifting their direction back and forth over time. Only waterways altered by man flow in straight lines – and then only for a little while. Water continues to spiral even in manmade waterways; it continuously fights against the linear path laid out for it. 

There are no straight lines in nature. Human bones also grow in spirals, as do tree limbs unfurling out from the trunk. Why? Because tissue is primarily fluid at its growing edge. This is the water planet. All natural growth is fluid — flowing, spiraling fluid.

Break the rule of the spiral and you end up with the mess of hideous canals and failing dykes that now fight against the spiral will of the mighty Mississippi River. Even today, the waters of the river fight to flow and meander their way to the Gulf of Mexico. It is their nature.

What does it say about humans when we keep trying to straighten a river’s flow? What does it say about us when we fight against the innate nature of the river?

Can we learn to listen to the spiraling waters? Can we become more fluid ourselves and stop forcing the waters into a straightened path? Can we relax and flow again? What might we learn if we watched and listened to the wisdom of the river?

~Nancy Lankston