To Wear Your Heart on Your Water Bottle
March 28th, 2025
Writer: Anushi Varna
Editor: Scarlett Butters
Recently, I’ve been considering a change in my life. Nothing dramatic, profound, or revolutionary-just something small and new to freshen up my lifestyle. So, I went to Target and I stared at the newly popular Owala brand water bottles that had pretty much taken over the desks in my classrooms and the hearts of my peers. Adjacent to the Owala water bottles were a few somewhat outdated Hydro Flask water bottles. While I had initially considered purchasing an Owala to replace my current pink Hydro Flask, I suddenly felt a pull at my chest as I began to reminisce.
I remember my first Hydro Flask. It was 2019, and I was a freshman in high school. It was light blue and decorated with cute, savvy, eccentric stickers. My (and my mother’s) favorite sticker was a Birkenstock that read “You Birken-rock”. Sometime later after my straw had probably eroded, my bottle had suffered dents, and I had become too aware of the weird and mysterious aftertaste, I bought a new Hydro Flask in white. Instinctually, I leaped to my computer and purchased new stickers. This time, my favorite was this white and black tiger that was so large I had to rotate my water bottle to trace its full body.
I remember how excited I was when it came time to decorate my water bottles. The stickers offered me an opportunity to show off, well, me: my personality, my aesthetic, and my current interests, all in a subtle yet creative and unique way. These stickers marked one of the first times I fully embraced my personality and allowed my peers to acknowledge it. In my class, my stickers would start conversations where my peers asked questions or complimented my stickers. I reveled in this work of art that I curated wholly for and by myself.
Then, the straw on my white water bottle got damaged, and I bought my current pink Hydro Flask, right when I started college. Except this time I didn’t buy stickers. I, instead, embraced my personality in other ways. I attended orchestra concerts on my own, stopped by pop-up thrift stores, and tried new fitness classes. I often noticed social trends in my interests, especially when buying clothing, but I felt encouraged to indulge in what personally felt most satisfactory to my tastes. As a result, I felt more in tune with my inner self whom I protect and hold so near to me. The process of embracing myself has made me feel more secure and like a real, breathing, growing individual rather than someone who merely exists.
So, my trivial act of accessorizing my water bottle flourished into one of my first channels for sharing who I am with the external world. The blank canvas it provided me was a welcoming space where I had full creative rein. This must be why, staring at the blank Owalas and Hydro Flasks, I feel moved. Beyond just a water bottle, my decorated Hydro Flask marked a different yet naive time in my life. I’m sure my current pink Hydro Flask will have a successor, but in the meantime, I am grateful for the way it pushed me to develop confidence in myself. Finding and appreciating minute ways to express ourselves is so immensely rewarding and enriching, and our world certainly would be boring if it weren’t for the unique pieces of ourselves that we happily share.
