It’s been a stressful few days and I’ve been looking forward to today’s swim ever since I finished my swim yesterday. Last night, unable to sleep, I pictured myself hopping out of bed, into my bathing suit, and driving down to the bay for a middle-of-the-night swim. I didn’t do it, but it’s interesting to me that after a few weeks of constant swimming, my biggest fantasy for stress relief is jumping back into the bay.

Angie and I went for an early swim at the bulb. The morning was gray and calm; hardly anyone was on the beach and stillness settled over everything. Kaushik was the only other swimmer at the circle, doing his sun salutations before jumping in for his daily before-work swim. Later we saw that Colleen was already in the water for her daily solo swim. It was a morning of quiet, solo swimmers.

The cold felt even colder today (was it because writing about cold water swimming yesterday clarified the experience in my mind?) and we yelped and sang our way past the cold shock. Then we settled into the swim.

We aren’t aggressive swimmers; slow and contemplative most days, but today felt especially, intentionally slow. As I bobbed and floated on the surface of the bay, I thought about how supportive the water is. I love the way it holds me up, cradles, and buoys, lifting away some of the burdens that come from lugging around this meat suit day in and day out. Pains melt away and the lightness goes beyond the physical— as the water buoys my physical body, it’s also lifting away some of the psychic weight. Thank you, water.

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