Yup, That’s Me!
It’s January 1st 2021. The world is in lockdown #2 and so of course that means I spent the previous evening having a few adult beverages alone in my new apartment and for no good reason staying up until midnight to ring in the new year. But now its 8:30am, I am wide awake and feeling like what I really need to do is kick start the year in a manor less fuelled by fermented fun and more enriched by something a lot more soul nourishing. So naturally be it that it’s January 1st that means one thing, jumping into the freezing cold lake for a a good old #polarbearplunge.
The temperature was in the negatives, and me in just my sports bathing suit, pumped full of yesterday’s liquid courage and the belief we should all do one crazy thing a day, I drove down to Woodbine Beach and well plunged myself, with no great coordination or grace, into the freezing cold lake.
Flash forward a few weeks later, and what was supposed to be this ‘one-off, crazy’ solo New Years day experience some how wedged itself into my regular Saturday morning routine… every Saturday. So much so that friends and family began to take notice as I posted on Instagram after each dip and shared with me stories of other ‘plungers’ braving the cold water temperatures all year round.
My sister sent me this one really beautiful article about an ‘82-Year Old Toronto man who takes a morning dip in Lake Ontario every day of the year.’ and said “BlogTO should write about you next.” I read the article right away and was blow away by this mans lust for living and need for experience even at 82. But also I was damn impressed that he braved the lake everyday because I knew first had how brutally cold it can be.
April 1st I showed up at the spot the article said he always took his dip and that afternoon I wrote… “This morning I met the most incredible man! Chris is 82 and every morning at 7:50am he walks down to the beach and goes in the lake, rain or shine. All year round! I started this "go in the lake every week this year" journey sort of by accident but it's brought me more joy and excitement than I ever imagined! Meeting Chris and his love for life and adventure has made me feel so excited for all the adventures that have to come! It has refreshed my love for all the things I want to do that people keep telling me are crazy. All the things I think are just the moments we have to squeeze all the joy we can from this life! Although I won't be going into the lake EVERY morning, I will continue my weekly adventure and hopefully see Chris again if I can manage to be at 7:50! WOW! A true gem of a day, April 1st 2021, thank you!”
It’s now January 2022 and it’s been a whole year since my younger self accidentally started one of the most incredible weekly rituals and I can’t thank her enough. This January 1st, 2022 I was joined by a few curious friends who after weeks of hearing me talk about my Saturday swimming adventures wanted to give it a go.
I wrote a lot about my weekly Saturday swims on my Instagram and reread a majority of them for this post. What I realized was that over the course of the year I feel in love with getting in the lake not for the shock factor or the thrill but for the joy of taking time every week to actively participate in being present with myself. Almost all of my dips were done alone, with my phone propped up against my towel to record the experience with shocked onlookers in the colder months stopping to watch me and ask questions.
Now that I am into a new year I am so excited to carry on with this ritual but also really excited to surprise myself with some new accidental ‘crazy’ adventures. Do one crazy thing a day, It’s good for you!
