50 Days of Ocean Dips, Part 1 — Intentional Living, Ritual, and Remembering
I recently marked 50 days in a row of immersing in the ocean, and I compiled my reflections on what motivates me to do this.
Let me give some background…
I love to be in the water. If there's water nearby, I want to be in it. Luckily, my home is just a couple of blocks from a beach. For years I was an avid open water swimmer, going out to swim with a group twice a week. I haven't done that in a while, but during the pandemic when I was getting more creative with close-to-home activities, I started taking ocean dips.
For me, the definition of a “dip” means not necessarily doing anything in particular—just submerging in the water for anywhere from 5-20 minutes. At first, it felt strange to get in the water and not swim. “Aren’t I supposed to be doing something? Getting somewhere?” But soon it became a practice that was fluid and intuitive – swim a little, body surf in the waves, wriggle around doing what I call “ottering,” or bob in the wave – when it’s a dip, anything is fair game.
I’ve been encouraged in my dipping by research that points to cold water immersion as beneficial for the body—relief of pain and inflammation, improved immune response— and for mental health, with some people reporting an easing of symptoms of anxiety and depression.
But there’s a difference between jumping in the water when I feel like it and a discipline of submerging up to my neck in cold water every day.
So why make it a daily practice, and why now?
Well, to be real, this summer brought me a moment of uncomfortable awareness that in some important ways I was not living the way that I want to live.
Of course, in an imperfect world, living exactly the way that I wish to live is not doable. But I had to acknowledge that there are lots of things that are under my control, areas where I’m just a choice away from shifting “I wish I would do this” (or “I wish I wouldn't do this”) to "I AM doing exactly what I intend to"— having the habits that I want to have, leading the life that I wish to lead. And that's what hit me in a big way: I am largely in control of my daily life and habits, but I wasn’t acting that way.
At first, this awareness was accompanied by a wave of sadness and disappointment. After the sadness came motivation and determination: Where I can make a choice in service of my unique and precious life, I will make that choice. Now.
A Keystone Habit
I drew inspiration for intentional living from Cal Newport, who writes compellingly of embracing “the deep life”: a life in which we fully dive into what is for us and happily let go of what is not for us. Newport has spoken about the concept of a keystone habit: one that you maintain as a non-negotiable daily action that signifies, “I care about this aspect of my life and I'm willing to do non-trivial things that expend energy in order to demonstrate my commitment to myself.”
I decided that daily ocean dips would be the keystone habit that would show me that I was committed. Making time every day to walk out into the cold ocean up to my neck would be one concrete example that I am actively building the discipline and commitment to, as John O’Donohue put it, “live a life that I would love.”
Honoring a Life of Passion & Tenacity
Another important element of this practice has been to remember and celebrate my friend, Lisa Amorao. Lisa was a truly vibrant, exuberant, lovely person with a passion for being in the ocean. I met Lisa at the Commercial Wharf on a Friday night in July of 2012. For both of us, it was our first open water swim, and Lisa’s enthusiasm was a wonderful antidote to my anxiousness. Over the years, our shared slow swim pace gave us beautiful moments of enjoying the ocean together.
Lisa was always leaning into interesting challenges that required patience and tenacity. She would embrace new practices and stick with them with determination and enthusiasm. For example, the first time I led the November Joyful Living Challenge, Lisa embraced the challenge. One of the invitations was to write down three gratitudes every day for a month, and I loved seeing Lisa’s daily gratitude posts on Instagram. The month ended, but Lisa never stopped. She was still naming her daily gratitudes a year later and beyond. I saw her do the same thing with a core challenge that had her doing planks every day, eating plant-based foods, and more. She would never just fade away after announcing her commitment– she would do the shit out of it, and I love that about her.
At the end of May, Lisa passed away doing what she loved most. I wondered how I might honor this wonderful, spirited friend. How to celebrate her and maintain a sense of connection? Going into the ocean is one way that I can remember Lisa and carry forward both her passion for immersing in the ocean as well her spirit of embracing a challenge that’s meaningful to her and doing the shit out of it.
So I began, and all of a sudden it's 50+ days later, and I've gotten into the ocean every single day.
Embracing Ritual & Meaning
A few weeks into this challenge, I learned more about ritual and ceremony through the work of Megan Sheldon of Be Ceremonial. I realized that my ocean time was a ceremony made of simple rituals, and that by infusing it with a little more intention, it could be even more meaningful.
Often as I go into the water, I take a moment to remember my friend Lisa and to invite her adventurous, tenacious spirit to accompany me.
Many days, I pause to ask myself, “Why am I here? Why is this important to me?” And I answer that question anew, refreshing my intention and my commitment.
I learned from Megan the ritual of picking up a rock on my way into the water. I ask myself, “What is weighing me down right now? What do I need to release?" Then, at the moment when a swell lifts me off of my feet, I surrender. I let that rock slip from my fingers and release whatever needs to be released.
Some days I find that (blessedly!) there doesn’t seem to be anything weighing me down, so I developed a similar but different practice. (This is a beautiful thing about rituals – you can make up your own!) On those days I grasp the rock in both hands, and instead of thinking of something to release, I think of something to embrace. I bring the stone to my heart, or maybe even kiss it, infusing it with that quality… and then I release the rock. These repeated rituals make the ocean ceremony deep and significant each day, rather than perfunctory.
It seems to me that another lovely facet of ritual is that we keep certain things the same— I put on my swimsuit, I walk to the ocean, I pick up a rock, I slowly immerse myself, etc. The repetition and the sameness serve to emphasize difference—changes in my mood, in the moods of the ocean and sky, the uniqueness of each day’s experience.
Read Part 2:
”Every Day is Different, Some Things Stay the Same”
In which I share about the incredible variety in my ocean experiences and the outcome (so far) of committing to this keystone habit.