About Dawn Swimmer
Dawn Swimmer is me but she is also any woman.
I didn't want this blog to be an expose of myself and consequently I've chosen to make it anonymous.
I would like anyone to identify with the call of the sea, the desire to challenge oneself, to connect with nature's beauty and the ever-changing moods of the day and ocean, as well as the process of growth and development that my daily journey to the sea has unexpectedly provided for me.
The person behind this is important but also unimportant.
Most days I go swimming at dawn alone. Very occasionally one of my family members will come to walk down with me and see what I'm up to.
I prefer to swim naked as part of that daily sense of renewal and meeting the sea and the day as I am. I do run into people, generally rock fisherman, who are on the prowl along the shore at dawn seeking the ever elusive big fish.
If I feel exposed, I will wear my bathing suit. I am not an exhibitionist and don't feel a desire to expose myself to others but I also don't particularly care. Coming to the sea as I am adds for me a tremendous sense of freedom, well-being and renewal of the spirit.
Love of The Sea
For as long as I can remember I've loved the water and especially the ocean. I don't remember the first time I saw the sea but it must have been when I was about 2 or 3 years old on a family vacation in Florida. Warm ocean water, collecting sand dollars, sunburn, running in the little waves.
Dawn Swimmer, The Mermaid
I am also a mermaid. I don't know when my attraction to the image of the mermaid began. Clearly, my love of the sea, swimming and the fluidity I feel in the water clearly drew me to her. She is wild and untamed a creature of the vast, bountiful, unpredictable sea but she is also partly human and tamed and attracted to the land and its comforts.
Swimming at Dawn Begins
Swimming at dawn started many days ago, from need. It started from restriction. It started because I felt I must do something, something to keep myself alive when the world around me seemed to be going crazy.
I must go to the one place, outside my front door, that resonates life, bounty, mystery, joy, fear, passion - the sea. I must greet it each day. I must journey to the sea rain or shine, wind or peace, cloud or sun.
Take it as it comes. Brave the elements. I must immerse myself one way or another in the waves, the pools, the cold saline water and discover what lay within and without.
