A chilly sea swim on New Year's Day to celebrate 2022. But what about the sewage?

Recently, my friendly postman wished me a Happy New Year!  He then sighed and added, "I'm not sure if it is worth saying it this year, as it just seems like more of the same..."  From what I know, my postman is not a particularly negative person, in fact he is actually rather cheerful even in torrential rain and icy winds.  But perhaps he was just saying what many of us are wondering at this time.  We are supposed to be starting a happy new year, yet Covid cases are soaring with only limited restrictions in place.  Do we carry on as normal and hope for the best or do we limit our social contacts and hunker down?

I wanted to write a positive, happy and upbeat post for the start of the new year.  I have taken some great photos, trying to capture sunshine and freedom away from restrictions.  And there are many moments of joy to write about.  The winter clear skies are stunning here by the sea, with the bright sun reflecting off the expanses of sand.  I have stopped my walks or my bicycle to just take in the deep blue sky meeting the horizon out to sea.  After what feels like weeks of grey sky, feeling the warm sunshine on my face feels uplifting.

On New Year's Day, we had the warmest temperature on record at 15 ℃.  A large group of us (socially distanced) carried out a beach clean first thing in the morning and collected many buckets and bags full of litter.  It feels so therapeutic each time to see the beach looking pristine plus it is more like a mindfulness practice looking for small bits of litter that often get missed.  As we finished our beach clean, the tide had come in and a large number of swimmers had appeared for their New Year's Day dip.  The beach has become the "new normal" place for everyone to congregate and relax, where nothing can spoil our fun.

Except for the sewage.  During the beach clean, I suddenly realised with dismay that I was picking up large amounts of toilet paper and shreds of sanitary towels.  A dog walker told me that there had been another discharge of sewage into the sea on the previous day.  I felt like crying and telling everyone to come and look at the toilet related debris that I was finding on the sandy beach.  If you are not from this area, you won't be aware of months of campaigning to stop Southern Water pumping raw sewage into the sea, right here in Whitstable.  When I first heard about this major issue, I was shocked as I thought "Surfers Against Sewage" had campaigned and stopped this happening a decade ago.  Apparently not. 

Having cleaned up as much as I could, I still had my New Year's Day swim.  I returned to the beach nearer my house, where it looked a little cleaner and plunged in cautiously.  In these pandemic times when we are constantly weighing up what is "safe" to do and what to avoid, I decided to take a chance with the water.  Even though the water was warmer than normal at this time of year, it was still cold enough to feel challenging.  I swam a few widths and watched the black-headed gull that is usually sitting on the groyne while I swim.  My skin felt tingly yet I was happy to be in the water, even more so because I managed to clean up a little of the pollution.

Perhaps it was an auspicious start to the new year, teaching me something about finding moments of joy during my chilly swim, even with shit (literally).  In  answer to the postman's question about whether the year will be happy or more of the same, is that 2022 will probably be both.  If nearly two years of living through a pandemic has shown me anything, it is that life can be difficult and enjoyable even at the same time, within the same day or week.  Focusing on just the good can be exhausting yet seeing only the negative brings my spirits down.  Ironically, if we don't acknowledge the struggles, we can't feel the joy, peace or calm that will inevitably follow.

 

"We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions we also numb the positive emotions" (Brene Brown)

Comments

  1. Sue WalkerJanuary 17, 2022 at 10:03 AM

    "I liked the quote from Brene Brown about numbing emotions. You were brave to still go for a sea swim!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2022 at 4:50 PM

    I love the photos of the beach, it sounds like a great way to start the new year (except for the sewage of course). I liked mulling over whether 2022 will be better or much the same, maybe a bit of both sounds possible!

    ReplyDelete

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