I grew up on the eight floor of a 20-story apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. From my bedroom window, I could see a sliver of the Hudson River in the distance between a valley of brick and steel. The river was always there in my earliest memories. I often gazed at the wide expanse of choppy waters when we walked along the pedestrian promenade along the water to get to the playground on 74th street.
It was never clear to me which way the water was moving. At times it appeared to flow from left to right, while at others it seemed to move from right to left. One expressing my confusion about this, a family friend said, “it’s a tidal water.” When the tide came in, he explained, salty sea water of the Atlantic flowed upriver and mixed with the fresh mountain water coming down from the Adirondack mountains, only to recede again when the tide went out.
The image of sea and mountain water coming together, forming swirling eddies, has become deeply meaningful to me. I often return to it in my mind’s eye. It has also become an important metaphor. I see tidal water any time two lives come together in a meaningful way, with love and mutual appreciation. It is two people in joyful conversation, excitedly bouncing ideas off one another. It is the relationship of writer and reader, teacher and student, or two lifelong friends. It is the way we circle back to our past, retrieving memories and discovering new meaning in them.
For me, this swirling together of tidal water represents the experience of sharing deeply of ourselves. This often happens in Circle, which is first and foremost a story telling process. That is why I find so much joy doing this work and why I started Tidal Water Consulting. I look forward to opportunities to work with you and share our stories. That is how we learn and grow together.
“Every meeting between two creatures in this world is a mutual rending.” – Italo Calvino
Tidal Water Consulting 