I could hear the white noise crashing in my ears. As my feet dangled, I could see the reflection of the clear blue sky against the rapid splashing of the falling water. My Dad carried me in his arms as I looked below me at the Niagara Falls in Canada. As a tiny 4-year-old, I didn’t want my Dad to let go of me. Of course, he didn’t, but the tiny voice saying “What if I fall in the water?” still ran through my head.
The Niagara Falls is one of God’s magnificent creations that’s wide open for everyone to see. Below the endless sky, I’ve never seen something this divinely beautiful. It was so large that I felt super-small standing in front of it. The water could swallow me all in one chomp! At that age, I was having goosebumps. It was beautiful.
The Looking Glass Falls
Recently, as I stood in front of another waterfall called the Looking Glass in North Carolina, I had a flashback to my my childhood experience in Canada. This waterfall wasn’t as huge as the Niagara Falls, but it was breathtakingly stunning. It looked like a crystal-clear diamond falling and breaking on the ground, or like glass turning into liquid.
I could feel the cool breath of the water hovering all around me. My fingertips became freezing cold, and as I went down the stairs to take a closer look, my smile grew wider. I struggled, like a duck, to jump on each rock below me to get to the waterfall. I was about to trip, but there was my Dad holding onto my arm, just like when I was four years old.
“Oh, she’s going to fall! That’s her Dad and she’s the daughter,” my Mom heard a man say.
“Oh, thankfully we didn’t!” Me and my parents say, while laughing about it today.
Eventually, I made it down the rocky stairs and came face-to-face with the waterfall. The water wasn’t so deep, and you could see a streaming river flowing below your feet under the rocks. Everyone stood still as they posed for the pictures with their loved ones. It was the perfect place to meditate.
“Wow! It’s beautiful, Abbu!” I told my Dad. “Ma, come over here!” I enthusiastically waved to my Mom, who was taking pictures from a distance. She didn’t want to go down because she was scared she’d lose her balance. I wished she could have come down with us.
As I stood there, all my worries began to vanish. My brain felt like it had been washed down the waterfall and popped back in my head brand-new. My nose was as red as Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer’s, almost matching the red vest jacket I was wearing over a sweatshirt and sweatpants. A grey scarf hung around my neck, but I’d forgotten to wear my gloves and beanie, in my impatience to run over there to the falls.
I quickly snapped a once-in-a-lifetime selfie with my phone. That day, my skin glowed like I was in a skincare commercial. I’ve never seen my skin that lush and plump as an apricot since. The waterfall seemed like the fountain of youth, and I wanted to squeal with joy.
“Let it come and let it go”
As I was watching the waterfall, thoughts about how there’s so much more to life than I thought there was began to cross my mind. I was reminded to appreciate every moment I live through and to be one with nature. Inspired by nature, I chose to meditate by taking deep breaths like the air around the waterfalls that was cool enough to make me sane.
I began to let go of all these thoughts that were racing through my mind. I let them pass by like twigs, debris and dirt in the stream.
When I noticed the stream of water passing by, I began to let go of all these thoughts that were racing through my mind. I let them pass by like twigs, debris and dirt in the stream.
“Let it come and let it go,” a therapist of mine used to say. Those are the words that I remembered as I was watching the waterfall. I continued mindfully breathing in and breathing out.
Throughout this trip to North Carolina, I was also reminded of how much our environment needs protection so we all can stop and appreciate it. This state of the world is diminishing every day, especially because of the negative impacts of climate change. This was the month when the ocean temperatures became warmer—global warming is a critical issue, and it needs more attention from all of us.
Travelling and seeing the world allows us to come together and remember that we have the potential to make this world a better place. Luckily, through small steps such as reducing, reusing and recycling, we can improve the conditions of our world right here today.
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image: Ken Lane