A “watershed” not only describes a hydrological phenomenon, but is also used in a figurative sense as a turning point, the decisive moment of a change. A very inspiring circle of people of several disciplines (design, architecture, visual arts, music) were invited to discuss the various levels of understanding of a watershed.
A personal summary of the interdisciplinary talk at the studio of Barbara Anna Husar, Schiff ohne See, follows here:
Sharing Water Session at the Schiff ohne See, Vienna
On the watershed
A watershed in the topological context is a line marking the highest ground between two river systems. The rain that falls will take either way down, following gravity. But looking closer at the ground below and the sky above, we discover that there are many influences determining the way the water takes. There are circumstances of wind and temperature to be taken in account, in alpine regions often there is a meteorological divide involved. Following the rainwater seeping into the ground at the watershed, we can see various small watersheds in its way: rocks, cracks, layers and interspaces influence the way the water takes. So, to talk of the watershed as a line is rather superficial, the phenomenon absolutely is a three-dimensional issue.
Layers of granite below Witenwasserenstock, St. Gottardo
A turning point
In a figurative sense, a certain moment of change can mark a watershed, meaning a turning point, a moment of decision. A process like climate change has a so called watershed moment – the moment when the process is no longer reversible, following its own dynamics. Many people experienced the last months with their radical changes due to COVID 19 as a watershed situation, a moment of reflection, – with an upcoming urge to redefine our relationship towards life and the world we live in.
We live a life of culturally coined habits according to the rules of an economy-centered, comsumption-oriented system. We know that natural resources are depleted due to our lifestyle, we rob the planet and deprive our kin of its future on this planet. Do we really live the way we want to live? A decision is needed.
On clarity
Maybe the description of the watershed in its literal sense is an image to understand the process of decision-making. Once the rain falls, the persistent process of seeping, oozing, meandering starts. The water always finds a way, without ambition and intention, but persistent. And the long way of seeping is a clarifying process: the water leaving the ground on either side of the watershed miraculously is pure spring water! The oozing process is the mother of purity, as the ooze is the inspired mother of creation of life forms.
The clarity of water is its essence claims the Sufi master Ibn al-Arabi, and I truly think: our minds are related to water. We can find clarity by passing by many micro-watersheds, many small decisions, which help create the watershed of the big change we long for.
Some wordplay:
Scheiden – German for dividing, separating –
Ent-scheid-ung (=decision) Wasser-scheide (=watershed)
#onthewatershed #circularflow #sharingwaterproject #oneearth #weareconnected