The Flow of Life: How Water Shapes Us

The Flow of Life: How Water Shapes Our Bodies, Minds, Business, and Future

Water is more than just a necessity—it influences our health, emotions, traditions, and even our future in space. From the calming effects of being near water to the ancient Romans’ love of water slides, our relationship with water runs deep. But water is also a powerful metaphor for business, representing adaptability, sustainability, and the flow of innovation.

Let’s explore how water connects with our well-being, daily habits, history, the business world, and even the vast universe beyond.

The Science of Water and Well-Being

The Blue Mind Effect: Why Water Makes Us Happier

80% of the world’s population lives within 60 miles of a major water body, the human body is made up of about 60% water, and our brains contain even more (~80%), suggesting an intrinsic link between our physiology and water.
Research suggests that being near water—oceans, lakes, or even fountains—induces a meditative state known as Blue Mind (late Dr. Wallace J. Nichols).

Water environments help reduce stress, boost creativity, and enhance focus, explaining why waterfront office spaces and retreats are becoming popular among executives and entrepreneurs.

Sauna Culture, Business Networking, and the “Bada Bada Bastu” Effect

Water is also social and cultural experience, and in many cultures, sauna bathing is paired with cold plunges in natural water bodies, which improves circulation, strengthens the immune system, and enhances mood.
Sweden (and Finland), known for its deep-rooted sauna culture, recently brought this tradition into pop culture with the Eurovision contender “Bada Bada Bastu”—a song celebrating the communal joy of sauna bathing. The track highlights how sauna is more than just heat—it’s about togetherness, relaxation, and the rhythmic flow of life.

Modern urban wellness centers are blending sauna traditions with social gatherings, offering DJ nights, poetry readings, and even mindfulness workshops—proving that sauna culture remains an evolving and vibrant part of well-being.

Water and Daily Life: Hydration, Conservation and SustainabilityTrends

Smart Hydration: Beyond Just Drinking Water

The rise of high-tech water bottles with UV purification, carbon filters, and hydration tracking is changing how people manage their water intake.
Hydration has a direct impact on cognitive performance, influencing decision-making and energy levels.

Water Conservation, Challenge and Strategies

With growing awareness of water scarcity, personal conservation habits are becoming trends and businesses are being held accountable for their water usage.
People are adopting shorter showers, rainwater harvesting, and greywater reuse systems to reduce their environmental footprint.

Water and the Planet: Oceans, Climate, and the Future

Oceans regulate our climate, produce oxygen, and sustain biodiversity, yet pollution and climate change threaten their balance. The blue economy—from sustainable aquaculture to offshore wind farms—is emerging as a key strategy for conservation and innovation. For a deeper dive into how oceans shape our world and why protecting them is critical, National Geographic Ocean: A Global Odyssey by Sylvia Earle offers powerful insights.

“No water, no life. No blue, no green.” – Sylvia Earle

Water and Resilience: Lessons from Human History

Ancient Romans and Engineering Innovation

The Romans were masters of aqueduct engineering, ensuring reliable water supply to their cities.Their ability to manage resources effectively was a key reason for their economic dominance.
Some Roman bathhouses featured marble water slides, turning bathing into an enjoyable social activity.

Vikings and Adaptability and Innovation

Fresh drinking water wasn’t always safe, so Vikings and medieval Europeans relied on weak beer (small beer) as their daily beverage.
Vikings ability to innovate and adapt to available resources allowed them with for example the Viking Ships to expand trade routes and establish economic influence across Europe.

The Future of Water: Space and Beyond

Water on the Moon and Mars: The Next Business Frontier

NASA has discovered frozen water in craters on the Moon and underground on Mars, unlocking potential for space mining and off-world colonization.
The discovery of space water is fueling new commercial opportunities, including space tourism, asteroid mining, and lunar colonization.

The Largest Water Reservoir in the Universe: A Metaphor for Abundance Thinking

A massive cloud of water vapor was found 12 billion light-years away, holding 140 trillion times more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. This discovery is a reminder that abundance exists when we look beyond traditional limitations.

Water as a Business Strategy: The Flow of Leadership and Innovation

Water is not only a resource but a business philosophy—one that embraces adaptability, sustainability, and transformation. Leaders who understand and embody these principles build organizations that can weather uncertainty, innovate rapidly, and create lasting impact.

Adaptability: Learning from Water’s Flow

Water always finds a way—flowing around obstacles, changing form, and carving new paths over time.
Businesses must do the same: adapting to market shifts, technological disruption, and consumer demandswhile staying true to their core values.
Example: Netflix transformed from DVD rentals to streaming, then into content creation, always flowing with industry shifts.

Sustainability: The Future of Business and Water Management

Companies ignoring water sustainability risk regulatory fines, reputational damage, and supply chain disruptions.
Water security will increasingly dictate where businesses invest, manufacture, and operate, making water stewardship a boardroom-level issue.
Examples: Companies integrating circular water management (like Patagonia’s closed-loop dyeing process or IKEA’s water-saving supply chains) are not only reducing costs but also enhancing brand reputation in sustainbility investing.

Innovation: Creating New Markets Through Resource Management

Businesses that rethink water use are creating new markets—whether through desalination, AI-driven water conservation, or circular economy practices.
Example: Startups like Zero Mass Water use solar-powered hydro panels to pull drinking water directly from the air, solving water shortages in remote locations.

The best companies don’t fight change—they flow with it, using disruption as fuel for reinvention.

Water, Flow, and The Art of “Potential of The In-Between”

Artists, writers, and musicians have long been inspired by water—from Pablo Neruda’s and Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott’s evocative poetry, Virginia Woolf’s and Herman Melville’s literary explorations of the sea, Claude Monet’s and David Hockney’s mesmerizing water-themed paintings, and Refik Anadol’s and Olafur Eliasson’s immersive installations, to Debussy’s orchestral masterpiece La Mer, Enya’s ethereal melodies, The Beach Boys’ surf-infused anthems, and Björk’s organic soundscapes. This fascination with water extends into interactive storytelling, with video games like Subnautica and Journey to the Savage Planet offering deep explorations of aquatic environments, while films such as The Little Mermaid, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Interstellar use water as a symbol of transformation, connection, and the unknown.

Water is both a boundary and a bridge—it connects, transforms, and creates movement. This fluid nature mirrors the artistic exploration of Potential of The In-Between, where spaces of transition become spaces of meaning.

Water exists between solid, liquid, and gas, just as businesses navigate between different states—between past and future, growth and reinvention, stability and disruption.
Water is a mirror, reflecting landscapes and emotions, challenges and opportunities, just as art helps us reflect on our identities and experiences, and leaders must reflect on their purpose, impact, and adaptability.
Water carves pathways over time, reminding us that movement, change, and the the unknown are natural and necessary, and opportunities for strategic reinvention.

In business, as in life, success lies in embracing the flow—navigating uncertainty with adaptability, innovation, and long-term vision.

In Potential of The In-Between, we are invited to embrace the flow—whether in water, in life, or in the vast universe beyond.

Welcome to visit the > Art Exhibition Potential of the In-between until March 29 in Bålsta outside Stockholm, with guided reflections

March 22 at 13.00 Space and Water Mirror (on International Water Day)
March 29 at 13.00 Future Perspective

and meanwhile listen to the playlist Water’s Edge on Spotify.

Conclusion: Flowing Forward in Life and Business

Water is more than just a life-giving force—it’s a metaphor for adaptability, sustainability, and innovation. Our relationship with water teaches us the importance of fluid leadership, smart resource management, and strategic transformation.

And like Potential of The In-Between, water reminds us that transitions are not just spaces of uncertainty—they are spaces of possibility, reinvention, and leadership in an evolving world.

About Novisali

Novisali, (alias Liselotte Engstam), is besides her roles as professional board member and advisor, a multi-media artist, with a curious, explorative mind and an ambition to learn and extend art experiences to current and new audiences using both traditional and new digital mediums. More information and exhibitions can be found via Novisali.com

This blog post was is also shared at the blog of www.liselotteengstam.com, with the artist name Novisali.