COURSE OF THE RIVER

Course of the River by Karen Ross
Cover photo by Brennan O’Keefe

The course of a river can change the course of a life. That night. Strolling the banks of the Truckee, internal walls began to crumble. Stones around my heart shifted and drifted. Standing at the water’s edge, experiencing the exhilaration of a new relationship, possibilities glimmered like moon shadows on the surface of the Truckee’s steady flow. First date. Conversation neither of us wanted to end. A walk along the river path bringing us to this place. Of beginning. Of potential never ending.  

Close your eyes. Don’t struggle. Breathe deeply. Let the power of the Truckee carry you through bouncing rapids into the eddy. Relax into a place of calm, safety and ease.  

What started on the banks of the Truckee gained momentum. The memory of that moonlit night strummed within us. Commitment to singlehood, individuality, our separate flow changed course and power. Tributaries converged. Seedlings deposited in fertile riverbanks grew, intertwined and flourished.  

I say to the Truckee: “Thank you for your gift. From the images shimmering on your surface came a whole new way of seeing. We instead of Me.”  

Does a river have the power to heal and transform? Years later, I recollect that night with reverence and gratitude. I close my eyes and sense the coursing of the Truckee. Ebbing and flowing into its own uncharted, infinite space.  

Will you let the river take you?