Summer 2023

Water as a symbol has deep meaning in society, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the advertising industry. “Marketers use water in ads to sell all kinds of products. It represents well-being, security and contentment. Showing people on a balcony overlooking water implies you’ve made it in life, or jumping into a pool suggests health and well-being. The signal of water goes straight to your subconscious mind.” Now a Carmel resident, the author was himself put to the test of how his concept of mental balance would hold up when his family’s Davenport home was destroyed in a wildfire. “That took the hypoth- esis out of the theoretical realm and literally to my doorstep. I was challenged in the biggest way I’ve ever been. I felt like someone was saying, ‘Hey water guy, let’s see if your ideas hold up’…and there’s irony to that as well. I’ve been thinking about and advocating for water my whole life and then I have this dramatic experience with fire.What I ended up doing was applying my theory to my own life, and it defi- nitely helped.” For more information about Wallace Nichols and “Blue Mind,” please visit www.wallacejnichols.org. Nichols has been passionate about water since childhood (pictured below with his father). Today, he carries a pocketful of blue marbles with him everywhere, handing them out to whomever he meets as an illustrative symbol of his Blue Mind theory. 162 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 3