Went swimming with swans for the first time today (can’t believe it took coming to Slovenia for this to happen!). At first I was a bit nervous especially as some swans seemed slightly confrontational. Sitting on the jetty I calmed the heart by swirling hands and feet in the icy river. As soon as the swans realised I was getting in the water their attitude change from one of ‘stay away’ to reserved curiosity. As I swam in circles, more…
Conversations with water: wherever we visit it is difficult to settle until I have connected with the water. Usually I do this through swimming, and we drink the local tap water, but where possible I’ll drink from streams too. The water here tastes like snow. Gloriously ice-cold & glacial. These routines are part of a simple water ceremony but if anybody has any to share I’d love to hear them? Living in a van makes us acutely aware of our…
Ephemera in Aquamarine: a triptych. This water springs from a glacial cave 500meters higher up and doesn’t warm much during descent. A short, fierce, exhilarating blast of energy. I couldn’t stay in overly long – the body stops functioning properly. Afterwards, drinking hot mint tea, I think on the beautiful duality of water. Both a few seconds of raindrop, & universe-old. I dream of being the water-cycle: always changing, never tiring 💙🌧💧🌊💦 📷 @andyrgarside 🌿 (Slovenia)…
I love him because he says ‘let’s get the bodyboards and surfboard and wetsuits out,’ even when the waves look a bit big. I love him because he can’t swim very well but still catches more waves than me. I love that we laugh so much we gulp saltwater and choke until it runs in rivers out of our noses. I have a bruised knee and two swollen big toes. We are such surf amateurs but we have so much…
Watching my body, I am beginning to understand all the ways in which I shut her down; all the tiny actions each day that negate what she is communicating. This evening, intuition called for a swim and I dithered because it was getting dark and the water was cold, but I’ve learned that when I close off this voice, and a potential positive action, I create a void that instead is filled with negativity. Today, intuition and body led me…
Wild water on naked skin is utterly sublime. Stumbling across this hidden cove on our hike today was a gift I could not turn down. Feeling thoroughly grateful and inspired by the Cretian landscape at the moment. I look at the land & know she is beautiful: with her barren, angular rocks & scars, or her deep round basins of water & carpets of white & lilac wildflowers. I am learning to think of my body & mind in this…
For weeks this rock has called me to swim out to her. But the waves have been too big, or the water too cold, or I was not ready to swim that far. Today I asked for bravery so that I can write the words this novel requires, and no matter how much I searched within, I began to understand it is time to ask the water. The sea is calm. The sun is warm. I can do this I…
Back on Crete. Back to sea swims & cold beach showers; to morning coastal hikes and foraging for inspiration in the mountains, waves & sunsets of this magical place. So much of the writing work has nothing to do with creating in a literal sense, instead it’s about clearing space & believing I have the right to do so; it’s about saying no & not feeling guilty when declining things that will eat into the writing time but won’t add…
there is a choice we make / even as we are tumbled by ocean waves / even as currents unravel our resolve / we can be lighthouse or rock / sea-foam or anchor / navigating in circles around each other / we scupper ourselves on distant horizons / if you saw me drowning would you save me? // all of these tiny misunderstandings fall like raindrops / deliberate & relentless / I am soaked with I’m sorries / cannot take…