Two days after returning from Tenerife, I can still feel the gentle amniotic rock of the ocean's lullaby in my mind and body - lulling, soothing, healing. Time expands and slows as the lessons of this curious discipline of 'breathhold diving' (using British freediver Emma Farrell's definition of the sport) under the water continue to unfold within ...
My simple ocean song states, "The Ocean it speaks, it speaks to me, it speaks through me." Many things it says, but over and over, loud and clear, it says: Be strong! Believe! Mesmerizing vitality, power, limitless energy, beauty, constant change and ruthlessness all well up from the ocean's unfathomable depths inspiring, moving and motivating me. ...
Over the course of the winter, I found myself settling into feelings and experiences of the past seasons, years, and cycles that manifested in different written and visual expressions. I enjoy transmitting what I feel in the water through video and photo and sometimes I create a story from an idea, an inspiration, a mood which may evolve into words...
"The water is my prayer". Lagoon gifted me this phrase when I immersed in its still December 2021 chill. My daily engagement with water is how I commune on a deeper level, in body and soul, with something beyond and within myself. That morning I realized I 'pray' with, and through, the water. Out of this seed of thought, blossomed th...
I began the Driftwood Series in Menorca when hiking around the perimeter of this beautiful Spanish Mediterranean island with my partner from 30 Sept to 9 Oct 2021 on the Camí de Cavalls hiking trail. I swam every day, often multiple times, in the enchanting aqua waters. Huge quantities of impressive driftwood on Menorca's north side ...
Blue. Green. Tree. Breath. Arm. Hand. Bubbles. Sun. Moon. Sometimes when I'm open water swimming, with my mind full of thoughts and I want to clear it, I turn to elementals like primary colors. Single words for single moments. I turn my head to breathe, life giving agent, and there is the Sky. Cloud. Pink. Sun. S...
Swimming at Dawn began to recount my journey to the sea. Journeys, though, evolve and take on new life as the path unfolds. I love immersing myself in all forms of water and while I was swimming in the sea, I was also going to the pool or taking hikes with my family along riverways and inspiring spots that simply called out to me and begged to...
Autumn washes over me and I feel the rhythms within shifting and slowing just as I witness the earth and nature around me settling in for winter. Taking a hike with the boys in the woods I felt much energy in the death and decay surrounding us knowing it simply gives way to new life. My own caterpillar heart is filled with summer sustenance prepari...
Lily Robinson, a wild swimmer and poet from the UK, commented that my relationship with the ocean inspired her. Our connection sparked a unique collaboration between us, her words, my visuals and narration. May Lily's evocative words and my images help you find the courage to face and move through y...
Entranced by katie's nature and soul moving poems that she publishes through her Instagram account (@katieandcrow), I am very pleased that she composed two water-inspired poems for the Wild Swimmer Stories series. Both -the eden that we share- and The Water and Me remind and challenge us to connect with ourse...
The first draft of this poem emerged in Feb 2021 born out of fears associated with the creative process, self-exposure (both body and soul) through some of the images and words that I post on Instagram and my own internal meanderings of my year-long sea journey. I've worked on and expanded this poem...
Poetry and wild swimming. The power of water, especially cold water, to open creative pathways takes many forms. Poems are not just words on a page but often a reflection of how one moves through life. Kath Montstream (@redhotchillydippers) combines her actions and words in this beautiful poem taking us with...
