Confluence, according to Oxford's second definition, is an act or the process of merging. While some people think of confluence in terms of merging as getting into a flow of traffic from an on-ramp, anyone living around water thinks of the blending of bodies of water and formation of new waterway.
In Pittsburgh, there is a great history of the confluence - the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers form the Ohio River. But if you visit "The Burgh" particularly in the springtime, you will see the Mon hold onto its old identity a while - in the Iroquois language (the native tribe of my hometown), one interpretations of Monongahela means muddy waters.
Muddy isn't bad - those fresh nutrients that seem on the surface as simple mid are carried to floodplain and help create a fertile soil for something new to grow. Even hundreds of miles down the new Ohio River, there are traits particular to the Mon but come from the life of the Ohio River.
That's the beauty of confluence! Traits are taken from both rivers and form something new heading in a new direction - neither one holds dominance over the other. A merger means something goes first. Someone "wins". A confluence is a natural adaptation of the best parts to create something new.
If you have a junction in life, it could be a merger or confluence. You could go along with the flow and merge into mainstream. You could do what school has taught you, what other people say is the thing to do, perhaps stay where you're at (in Pittsburghese) and just live where you are planted.
Or, approach that confluence with the decision to make a new path and carry your identity forward. Take your good things downstream into your future, leave other attributes in the old "river", with that old definition of you.
If you think you have passed that time when you can do something new or the confluence was a few exits back, think of the Mon taking the good parts forward. It takes a little bit to come out in your Rebirth. Just find your good parts and create that new path. Water constantly moves and your can "move" anytime for a new you, taking your best with you.
In the spirit of Rebirth, the link today is a listen, not a look: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X_AOwrXev60
