Shoreham Beach West Sussex 16.05.2021 10am 10.4 degrees C
Yesterday I travelled down to my home town of Shoreham-by-sea to swim and catch up with friends and family. My friend and Artist Katie Sollohub is working on an ongoing project called ‘Immersed’. I think I was number 44 of the participants she has swum with. Once dry and clothed on the beach, sat with for conversation, she paints a small watercolour portrait. The conversation recorded and a photo taken of the swimmer holding the portrait, small enough to fit in the palm of their hand but held facing outwards, not to be seen until the project is collated. Participants receive a small sketchbook (again palm sized and a nice pencil for drawing, writing or both). Once home swimmers get an email with some prompts to write about the experience.
So despite the torrential rain the day before including hail and temperature, I went for it. I hadn’t even checked the forecast. On the way down in the car it started to rain heavily, but having the event in my diary I wanted to stick to plan. I know others check the forecast and maybe it’s sensible but I never have. I remember times when I have walked, cycled and swum in the rain. As a child I didn’t learn to swim until I was a teenager and recall the reticence to get messy, muddy or wet growing up, but now I find the discomfort exhilarating.
I had some reservations having not swum in cold water since last autumn and initially it took my breath away, but the feeling of the water on my skin was incredible, it always is. Katie took my hand when I stumbled a few times going in and out which made me think about my independence and previous reticence to ask for or receive help, how I am better at that now. Visually the sky was darker than the sea at times and the rain and hail came whilst we sat on the beach afterwards.
If you would like to take part in Katie’s project ‘Immersed’ you can contact her via her website https://www.katiesollohub.co.uk
So what about the weather? I think for me it’s a metaphor for navigating the things we have no control over. If the weather is ‘bad’ as in cold, rainy or even stormy we can choose to stay inside but we can also adapt, find what we need and go for it. In my case it was neoprene booties, gloves and a thermal hat, not forgetting the actual costume of course! A good friend who is also an Artist made an observation about my work being about looking outside from inside, observations of the skies from inside my studio or inside my mind. She’s right because to a greater extent than I would like, I find travel difficult, I can’t sit much at all without discomfort and my condition (Tarlov Cyst Disease) is something I take wherever I go. I remember a radio programme I heard years ago about holiday’s and the myth of ‘Getting Away from it all’ ; how wherever we go we take ourselves with us, there really is no escape. So being at peace for me is about accepting what I have to and challenging what I don’t. Also that it can still be ok and not ok at the same time, and the storms can be weathered if we hold on.
Writing this, I remembered a song I used to listen to a lot, ‘Weather With You’ by Crowded House, I listened to this over and over, years ago when I was going through a really difficult time. I love the way the song has elements of cheeriness in addressing what can be difficult. Often I engage with the melodies of songs and only realise the pertinence of the lyrics much later, like a kind of therapeutic dance between my thoughts and the words; something about them connects at a less than conscious level. l also love the way songs, poetry, writing all inform my own Art and Writing. These are my favourite lines:
Well there’s a small boat made of china
it’s going nowhere on the mantlepiece
Well, do I lie like a loungeroom lizard
Or do I sing like a bird released
Every where you go, always take the weather with you
So yesterday I was glad I swam and glad I visited some special people. The skies are dull and grey today but that really is ok, in fact I still feel glad.
Tracey Elizabeth Downing