Rivers and Veins

"Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way"
 - Moon River, by Andy Williams



I once heard someone describing a person who was very relaxed, someone frequently very calm and not-worried. I remember them saying something about how that person was so chill, they would never have a heart attack or clogged arteries, but instead surely had "veins like freeways".

Obviously this holds no medical accuracy, though it's stuck with me. The idea that someone, by just their laid-back attitude, could cause their blood to flow smoothly and effortlessly through their veins is something which has come to mind from time to time. When it does, I picture my own veins not as a freeway, but as a river. If I'm stressed or tense, I breathe deeply and try to relax, imagining my veins as rivers down which a person slowly paddles a kayak. They are in no rush; they ride with the current, which is meandering, looking around at the scenery. I watch the person in the kayak drifting down river and will myself towards a sense of calm, as though I am on that river, the sun warming me and the breeze cooling me and maybe there's a set destination and maybe there isn't, but either way, I'm in no hurry to be anywhere but in that moment.

Once, I went stand-up paddle boarding with two of my brothers, and towards the end of our rental time,  we lay on our backs on the boards and simply floated. We were shaded by an overpass, and it was so peaceful, I had to keep myself from falling asleep. I think of that half hour, drifting and floating and eventually paddling lazily back. Peace, right there in the heart of the city. Calm I could hold onto and keep.