What Does the Water Have to Teach Me?
the last time I visited the ocean in 2021
My brain is not linear. Maybe you’ve noticed. I certainly have. It explains how I end up smashing my shin into the dishwasher door while making dinner. I opened it grabbing a cup for my morning coffee then wandered off, connecting dots visible only to me.
[You can also see why having a dedicated mindfulness practice is so important for me. 🤣 I’d float away without it.]
I’ve always had an impulsive side, an aspect that says YES to things that feel like love and taste like rebellion. In the 90s this intoxicating mix had me doing a lot of dumb things, like waking up stranded in Chicago or on the floor of a dirty hotel room in 🇨🇦.
Here’s a more recent example: Yesterday for 30 seconds I thought my friend and I were going to get matching tramp stamps. We’ve both lived into our 40s without any tattoos but I fell in love with the impromptu idea of permanent change, experienced together.
[Friends, we did not get matching tramp stamps but it will remain a new life goal and everyone in my life is now on notice.]
Anyway, people have been asking me why I decided to start this one-minute cold shower thing. It was entirely unplanned. In truth, I was drinking my morning coffee with my friend, Instagram. I saw a post of Wim Hof doing his ice-bath breathing. I saw a post by my friend Marco, who has challenged me to try new things in the past. I checked in with the part of me that held so much resistance to experiencing the mindfulness of being in cold water and decided I wanted to prove that version of me wrong.
I took my first cold shower on Thursday morning, based on Marco’s recommendations.
On Friday night, while meditating, I remember a question I’d been pondering all summer. It was a question I’d recorded back in April post meditation:
What does the water have to teach you?
Now, I take my post-meditation journaling seriously, so I carried this question with me through most of May and June. My ego quickly made the assumption that by water, the universe meant large bodies of natural water. By July, I was bummed but I’d given up the idea that I’d make it to the ocean this summer. I began spending time at the lakes and creeks around me, with nothing profound to report.
Then last night in meditation, the question again dropped in:
What does the water have to teach you?
And I laughed at myself for not connecting those dots sooner.
Anyway.
I’ve only been doing this cold shower thing for 4 days now. But.
One thing the water is teaching me is the value of making things fun.
Sharing this experience feels like fun.
So I’ve already learned something.
