I stood on a footbridge in Freedom Park, watching the reflections of trees and sky in the creek below. Later on, I did some reflecting of my own as I thought about the phrase “water under the bridge.”
We all know the meaning of those words. They remind us that whatever happened in the past has slipped away, like water in a flowing stream, and we need to release our attachment to those things – especially our grudges, resentments and other feelings of ill will.
The Buddha said “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
Our good friend Gene Bullock-Wilson, who passed away nine years ago, had another way of putting it. Whenever someone would cling to a past incident that was troubling them, he would gently suggest “It’s time to let that log go down the river.”
Gene’s advice is well-founded. According to John Hopkins Medicine, chronic anger and grudge-holding increase the risk of depression, heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. Letting go of these negative emotions leads to better health.
When we forget about the water that’s passed under the bridge, we feel a sense of lightness … a sense of unburdening … a sense of freedom. It's a feeling that's as spacious as the blue sky reflected in the creek when I looked down from the footbridge.
Photographer’s Footnote: This photo is part of a series taken during a one-hour walk in Freedom Park near our house in Charlotte.