November 19, 2009

I have been swimming for about a year now. Last January I took a few lessons to learn how to do the forward crawl. It comes down to how to breathe while swimming. The trick is to exhale with the head under water. A slow rhythm of breathing and bodily movement developes over time. It lowers blood pressure!

This morning as I started swimming my laps the lanes were all empty. I got into my rhythm. It is automatic now and it gives my mind a chance to swim around. I thought about various things as I moved back and forth in my lane: what to cook for supper, Psalm 60, what happened yesterday. It is a stream of conciousness kind of experience. Sometimes it feels like prayer. About midway through I became aware of someone swimming in an adjacent lane. It was my swimming instructor from last January. She was cruising back and forth about twice my speed. I noticed that I became concious of how I was swimming. I became aware of my strokes and kicks and how I was probably not doing them correctly or not putting enough energy into it. I began to "try and swim better!" I did a few laps under that spell and soon realized I wasn't having fun. Being so self-concious turned swimming into work...and I lost connection with my 'prayer'.

Not a word was exchanged. No communication. Someone simply got into the lane next to me and started doing what I was doing yet I was impacted. Is there a metaphor in here somewhere? We go along through are 'scripted' days. We like our routines. We want to 'lose' ourselves in what is happening and suddenly we become aware of a life in the next lane. That awareness introduces a new dimension....the neighbor. The neighbor disturbs our tranquility even without any direct relating. Perhaps the neighbor is into his/her world just as I am in mine. There is no need to 'interfere'. This is not a Good Samaratin kind of story. this is simply the acknowledgment that on a very basic primary level the neighbor is part of our world. It is not a choice. It is a given. We do have a choice in how we respond to the new situation. I chose to tell myself, "Gosh, Jon, get back to enjoyment!"...and I did. I was hoping I would get a chance to talk to my neighbor once we were finished but when I came out of the water she was gone.
Maybe next time.

It's nice that we can share the pool. It's nice that we have our lanes to swim in. It is nice to breathe, reflect, and imagine. It's nice that sometimes we do not need to connect.

I had a physical examination this morning. Blood pressure was great! I hoped it would be. That's why I went swimming!.....I think....