Requiring Water

Do you have any unusual things about you that others don’t seem to understand? Or maybe they don’t realize how serious it is, and you feel misunderstood or maybe just a bit foolish?

For instance: I require a lot of water.

And I can already see your eyebrows drifting slightly in a “Really, Ashleyne?” direction. (Btw, your eyebrows are on point today. Do you comb them? I can’t bring myself to comb my hair, let alone my eyebrows. Well, whatever you’re doing, keep it up!)

But I’m serious about the water thing.

I started drinking a lot of water in high school, when carrying around this new water bottle called a Nalgene started to become cool. Actually, it was probably only cool in a very small percentage of society, but I happened to fit into that percentage so obviously I joined in. And so I discovered how much water I require in order to function.

On days when I don’t have enough water, my throat gets scratchy, my head hurts, I get lethargic, my eyes dry out, basically I start feeling like I’ve aged to 97 overnight and also gone on a multi-liquor bender without eating any food first.

It’s really not good.

And it has even impacted a my major life decision.

When I was graduating from college, I wanted to go live in Africa for a year, specifically Somalia. I applied to go with an organization, made plans, and then ended up realizing it was not a wise decision for me at that time. There were three major factors in that decision – and one of them was my concern that there would not be enough water in all of Western Africa to keep me functioning.

Yes, really. It’s that bad.

And although now, as a more experienced adult, I believe I could figure out ways to function in Western Africa and deal with the water situation, I still understand my concerns back then. But I also know that not a lot of other people would understand that. It seems a bit silly, maybe even naive.

But the truth is, I just don’t function well without a lot of water.

So, in solidarity, I’d like to know. Are there things about you that people just don’t understand?