The Waterfall and the Well | A Poetic Essay
Amidst the noise
In the hustle and bustle of social media and society, I feel like I am losing something within myself.
Even the words I utter in haste feel as though they do not belong to me.
Have you, who are reading this, ever experienced the same?
I wrote the following poem when I felt crushed by the weight of conflicting ideologies, clashing desires, and tangled information, to the point where I could no longer understand my own thoughts.
The Waterfall and the Well
Information is water.
This world is a place where countless waterfalls roar as they cascade down.
That water represents values, ideologies, someone's way of life, and someone's version of what is right.
Standing before those waterfalls,
“This is important,” “This is happiness,” “This is normal”—
they urge you to drink the water that can only be consumed now, telling you that you will regret it if you don't,
pressuring you to drink.
“You will regret it if you don't drink,”
“You are wrong if you don't drink,”
when you are told this over and over, you start to feel that there is something wrong
with you for not drinking the water.
Before I knew it, I was swallowed by the muddy torrent of the waterfall and unable to move.
Even when I grew tired of drinking and closed my mouth, the spray blinded my eyes,
and it flowed into my throat every time I tried to breathe.
Without realizing it, my own voice had vanished.
What was I seeking, and what was I suffering from?
I had lost track.
Sounds I thought I had ignored
had, before I knew it, seeped deep into my heart.
One day, you will remember.
That in a quiet place far away, there was a well, hidden away.
A place to quietly draw up, over time,
water that is for yourself, not someone else's water.
The well had certainly been there since I was born.
But I had forgotten it somewhere along the way.
While I was busy drinking the waterfall's water,
even its existence had been washed away.
Even if you cannot leave the waterfall completely,
it is okay to step away from it from time to time and return to that well.
It is okay if it takes time.
It is okay if you can only draw a little.
At your own well, to draw the water you truly need,
to gently scoop up your heart.
To reclaim the contours of your own self.
A sense of discomfort, like a 'misalignment' that arises every time my heart feels unsettled.
Clashing values, colliding emotions, and words I cannot swallow.
As I continue to think from multiple perspectives, it feels as though there is a right answer for everything, yet
it also feels like everything is wrong, and I begin to lose sight of what I want to do.
––But I think it is okay to have one place within yourself that is like a quiet well.
What is right? What is normal?
When you feel like you are about to be swallowed by such words, I want you to remember.
The quiet well truly exists even now.
[Afterword]
To the me of those days, and to you of today.
This piece was written when I was in my first year of working in society.
And it was written when I myself was being swept away by a 'waterfall'.
Every day, I was at the mercy of the waves of information rushing in, and before I knew it, I didn't know what I was thinking.
For me, the well was 'silence,' 'solitude,' and 'time to think alone.' It was only in that time, which might look like a waste to others, that my own voice would return to me.
What is the well for you?
It might be time spent quietly reading a book, or perhaps just sleeping. It might be writing a diary that no one else sees.
Waterfalls are necessary. Connecting with the world is also necessary.
But the well, too, is certainly necessary.
I hope that this text provides a moment of relief for your delicate heart and serves as a trigger to remember the existence of your well.
[Background of the creation of Waterfalls and Wells]
The waterfall is a symbol of others' values and 'correct' answers. The well is your own quiet water source.
When you are swallowed by the 'correctness' and 'evaluations' that overflow in the world and lose sight of yourself, how do you return?
I entrusted that answer to the image of a 'well.'
No matter how much one tries, there is an aspect of human nature where we can only perceive things through our own subjectivity.
Even so, one can still think of others while hoping not to be self-centered.
However, there are times when no matter how much you think, you are not fulfilled.
'I want to do something, but I don't want to do anything.'
Repeating the same things every day, becoming a target if you raise your voice, and wearing yourself out.
Even so, if there is a place like a well, perhaps you can catch your breath for a little while.
––I have poured that wish, born from conflict, into these words.
…The modern age is an era where 'waterfalls' have become far too strong.
SNS, news, advertisements, rankings, reviews.
Countless waterfalls are telling us, 'This is the right answer.'
In the midst of that, having a 'well' might look like selfishness or escapism.
However, I think the opposite is true.
Without a well, you will continue to be swept away by the waterfall, and your own voice, as well as your heart that cares for others, will fade away.
There is necessary information in the waterfall of the internet.
But at the same time, unwanted things and things that erode the heart also flow in with great presence.
That is precisely why I believe that having time to return to the well is, in fact, 'necessary to live better.'
Although there are times when I feel anxious about not knowing the flowing information,
there is no need to know everything.
There is water that can only be drawn by acting in a time of knowing nothing.
If you are feeling a little tired of waterfalls today.
If you have ever felt like you were losing sight of yourself.
Please, try to remember from time to time.
Within everyone, there is always a well.
Its water may be inconspicuous, but it is certainly continuing to spring forth.
When you scoop up the water from that quiet well, I believe your outline will return a little.
This poetic essay, "Waterfalls and Wells," is a story to return to at such times.
—That is the reason I left this story behind.
Thank you for reading.
*To those who have purchased my writing before.
Because of your support, I was able to leave this here.
Thank you.