14 Comments
Nov 9, 2022Liked by Cheryl A. Ossola

Swimming for me is truly therapy, both body and mind therapy. There is something that is naturally healing whether I am in a pool, ocean, lake or hot tub. It doesn't matter if I am swimming laps, doing water aerobics, deep water floating, or attempting simple yoga positions in the shallow end - I need the water and it embraces me with strength, forgiveness and acceptance.

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Nov 9, 2022Liked by Cheryl A. Ossola

I absolutely love this, Cheryl, and I am so enjoying your writing! I also have mad envy that you have made a life that allows you to do so much of it! I am putting that in my "Goals" column...

Ellen

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A beautiful post on jumping, literally, into unknown waters. So much to learn from you, Cheryl!

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Nov 9, 2022Liked by Cheryl A. Ossola

I love imagining your life in Perugia! When my next book tour is done, if I'm not completely broke, I'm coming back to Italy to research my next book and learn Italian. Perugia is in my book!

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I was terrified of the water as a child, even ran away from home so as not to be forced to take swimming lessons. To this day, I don't know how to swim. I keep telling myself that I should learn, but, at 62, I wonder if it's even necessary. Water and I have always have a distressingly adversarial relationship, and it defies logic to see that changing in the foreseeable future.

My wife and I were in Hawaii a year ago, and she coaxed me into a kayak. It will remain one of the great mistakes of my life- and certainly one of the most stressful afternoons I've experienced, though I did get to see things I wouldn't have otherwise.

I keep telling people, "This is why we have life preservers," hoping that such a pronouncement will draw a line in the sand, but it never does. And so the argument continues....🤷🏻‍♂️

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Nov 9, 2022Liked by Cheryl A. Ossola

What a beautiful consideration of swimming. I’m so glad you found it, and came to love it. Plus one to the doctor. Swimming makes you strong as hell.

From about age 8-20, all I did was swim. I was a competitive swimmer, which meant practice every morning (at 6am ... outside) then races every weekend.

Your right about the hypnosis. After a few laps, you just kind of ... think. Movements become automatic. And that’s special. Like meditation. Unplugged. No informational inputs, only physical ones. I love the way you (and Julie) put it. Good for mind AND body. And humanizing -- kind of silly, going back and forth repeatedly. Silly = humanizing.

Hope you continue to enjoy it and to think. You’ve got me wondering now if all those hours in the pool during my “developmental youth” somehow changed the way my brain works -- for the better, I hope.

Thanks for sharing 🏊🏼‍♂️

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