Swimming out to the buoys
Why I love the cold Irish Sea
I love saying that phrase “swimming out to the buoys”. Even though I never swim out to the buoys when I go for my dip at Seapoint.
My Irish sea swimming started a few years ago and has become a real fixture in my life. It is my favourite thing to do in Dublin. And this is why I love it so much…
I love the instant hit. I can be at my computer working one minute and then twenty minutes later down at Seapoint. When I’m at my computer I usually feel a bit stressed. I think it reminds me of my previous life as a solicitor spending endless hours at my desk. I have this utopian idea that life should be spent outdoors. I understand that this is not possible in the modern world we live in, or in Ireland.
And I have a lot of good things to say about screens. They are keeping us going during lockdown. Screens have allowed me to continue my teaching and connect with new people online. They are allowing working from home and will hopefully help end this mad way we all gather in offices in the middle of the city every day. They are giving the environment some respite from unnecessary car journeys. And they are giving humans a break from avoidable commuting.
After a long session on my computer in the morning I’m usually a bit agitated. Or if I spend time updating social media. It’s addictive to check your phone after posting on Instagram. I think everyone feels that. And those that don’t, either don’t ever post or are lying.
I’ll notice myself picking up my phone more than usual after I post. Either secretly pleased or anxious about a post. It is only a slight change in behaviour but one that I notice and don’t particularly like. It is the ego getting a crowning or a bashing. Either way, the ego feeds off the dopamine and gets it’s kicks off social media. But alas, much like time on the computer it is kind of necessary and something I partake in. I balance it all out internally with a good dunk in the sea.
The sea is my antidote to screen time. Once I feel I’m getting agitated or pepped up by social media; when my shoulders are tense and when I start putting down my phone only to pick it back up a few minutes later. This is when the sea comes calling. I know that the moment I jump in all this nonsense fades away. The online computer world I’ve got wrapped up will dissolve away as I dive my head under a wave.
I feel connected to nature and to my body when I’m in the sea. The thinking mind takes a pause. I love that I’m plunging into something completely natural and not man-made or fake. The sea is as real as it gets. It’s hard to get that nature hit when we live in cities.
The sea throws everything into perspective. I feel young and free when I’m in the sea. (Considered turning this into a poem after that line). My favourite part is the moment you get out, just before you get really cold. Before the change of clothes. Just standing there as the heart rate starts to drop to normal with a big silly smile on my face. It’s the only time in my life when I high five people. It happens so spontaneously after a dip. High five to all my friends like I’m a teenage basketball player. Buzzing and completely refreshed. The natural high. There is no feeling like it.
I love that it’s never easy getting in. The mental chat you need to run through in your head to get in. It takes bravery every time you launch out into the sea.
I love the craic and the people down at the sea. The friends I swim with. I laugh every time I hear the phrase “Are you swimming out to the buoys?”. Because the first time someone asked me that at Seapoint, I said naively “oh.. who’s out there?”.
I learnt that day the difference between boys and buoys. I post this now. And shut down the laptop. Put the phone away and feel grateful for the Irish sea so near to me. I’ll go take a plunge into the freezing water to feel completely alive and free.
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Wim Hof on the Good Glow. I went straight into the sea after listening to Wim talk so passionately about the benefits.
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Luke O’Neill on Newstalk talking about the proteins we create in our blood when we dunk into the cold sea. Episode 29 October 2020 (about 9 minutes in)