Clearing the river of consciousness

An image came to me when I was first meditating in Thailand about 2 years ago (has it really been 2 years???): a really polluted river full of muddy water, garbage, junk food wrappers, and televisions playing TV shows and movies I'd wasted my time watching over the years. My distinct feeling was this river was my connection/contribution/reception of the flow of universal consciousness in the world. Kindof dissappointing, really. The good news is, it's mostly cleared up! My mind still wanders all over the place while I'm meditating in the Zendo, but when I see that river of consciousness flowing through, the water is clear and there's no more garbage in it. Yeah!