Obsession. Addiction.
That's probably how others see it.
I wish I could explain how it makes me feel.
How fundamental it is to my well-being.
To my being well.
It has been said that there are those who are born with the salt water in their veins and it circulates in a briny course that pumps straight to the heart.
Without it they would die.
I believe this to be true.
When I was a child, nothing calmed me like the ocean. As an adult it is the same.
To take that first plunge, to feel the water surround and support every part of me, it is like exhaling after holding your breath for a very long time.
I am weightless. I belong to something.
So it is hard at this time of year, knowing each swim, each visit to the beach could be my last for the season. It makes me edgy, uneasy. I am in denial. Panic rises like the tide.
But not today. Today there is reprieve. The air has cooled but the water is still warm (ish).
Today I can swim.
