Pregnant women are often regaled with comments about the similarity of the stuff in their bellies cushioning their progeny to the ocean. Oceans and amniotic fluid do not have exactly the same salinity as is oft quoted as fact.
Amniotic fluid has about 2% salinity. Oceans are 3.0 to 3.5% dissolved salts. All life does seem to have come from the ocean, but all life does not carry some sort of ancient, immutable salt signature . Even so, the fact that women carry their children in sacs of fluid during gestation is a pretty nifty reminder of connection of Earth life to water.
We use the term Mother Earth. But Mother Earth is the blue planet. Water is not blue; it reflects blue. At present, 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. This does not mean that the total mass of Earth is 71% water. Water is precious. Water is life. All humanity is born of woman. All life is born of water. Women and water are the life-blood of this planet’s current conscious population. Perhaps we should all pay more attention to them both. Just a thought.
Connections can be drawn, but we do not have to take them too literally. Figuratively is another story. Metaphor is a good thing. Sometimes the truth hides behind metaphor and peeks out at us, telling us to think more creatively, more expansively, and in a more holistic fashion.
Any thing that helps us understand the world we live in makes the world a better place, and anything that allows us to temper our impact on the world into a more sustainable interaction is a good thing. If we can conceptualize things in a way that allows us to derive meaning from it, well, I say, “More power to us.” When we first brought femaleness into an abstraction we did this.
One of the first such abstractions of which we have evidence is referred to as The Woman of Willendorf from about 28,000 and 25,000 BCE. For years she was called the Venus of Willendorf yet anthropologists now call her the Woman of Willendorf.
Conceptualizations change, and our language evolves to reflect those thought changes.
Go ahead, be creative. Do not lie. But tell your truths; embellish, but do so in a way that people know you are telling a story. Frame your perspective, call yourself Ocean Girl, or Onion Girl. We all have layers, persona. The membranes between the layers of the onion, so to speak, allow us to adhere, to develop new layers, yet allow us to connect to each other cohesively, organically. There is nothing wrong with this.
The important thing is to tell your story. Homer told the story of many men with many tales as though one man spoke, a man we call Odysseus. Give credit where credit is due, but please contribute to the story, the history of women, that we are writing and sharing via the internet at this moment, on this Earth, together.
Home / BE / Women’s Legacy / A to Z / A to Z of Legacy 2015 / Oceans and Amniotic Fluid
Lisa at Grandma's Briefs
Ha! I like “Onion Girl.” Yes, our layers are many… and sometimes they may be stinky to others who just don’t “get” us. Thankfully I have friends and family who appreciate my layers (most of the time).
You continually amaze me with your topics and the info you share. 😀
Nancy Hill
I hope amaze is a good thing! 🙂
Doreen McGettigan
I think I am definitely an ‘onion girl’ but would much rather be an ocean girl.
You continue to amaze me too; in a very good way.
Nancy Hill
Our layers and connections are almost visceral aren’t they?
Carol Cassara
This is such a fascinating approach, Nancy. I am always waiting to see the next piece and how it relates to our legacy. Enjoying it as it makes me think.
Nancy Hill
Thank you Carol. It is a work in progress, I am trying to fill a niche that is important, underserved, and a bit undefined.
Brian
I like this passage very much. It immediately answered my question about the salts of amniotic fluid compared to the ocean, and I stuck around for the poetic and strong reminders of telling balanced narratives. I am working on a project which is trying to do just that. In the spirit of balance, I would say that describing water as “not blue;” because “it reflects blue,” is akin to saying, “nothing in our world has color.” While this is true in some ways, I think it overly diminishes the miracle of our colorful world. All color is an energy escaping the object, imprinted with meaningful signatures of what was there. But overall I love your message here! Hope it has brought you much inspiration and understanding.
Nancy Hill
Thanks for the feedback, Brian! It is helpful. There is always balancing, choices… so many choices, in tech or science info versus perceptual info.
jobie steppe
I just found you because I was comparing womb water to ocean water and I provide Honorable Dignified Full Body Burials @ Sea and wanted to get it right as I talk with folks about what to expect. I’m not ready to make a comment. Jobie Steppe