Posted: April 9, 2021
Appreciating Water: #1 The beginning
Appreciating Water is a blog series from Youth Water Leader Julie Breslin, about her relationship with water and how it has been formed over the course of her life and experience being a youth water leader.
Throughout my life, I have always been interested in the environment and how we affect it. My interest in the environment started by going to the cottage every summer when I was a kid. My family’s cottage is on Bob’s Lake, which is in the St. Lawrence watershed. I would watch the fish swimming around my brother’s and my ankles, and my grandma would then take us on an old rowboat around the lake. After the day in the water, I would fall asleep listening to the loons. As I grew older, trips to the cottage became less frequent, and I became disconnected from water for a while.
It was not until I was in high school where I started to find myself around water. During the first summer of high school, my friends began to have beach parties at Mooney’s Bay.
Despite being from Ottawa, I was not familiar with Ottawa’s beaches, and I was happy to learn about a new place. I had been having panic attacks and needed to spend time outside with friends as I had a habit of self-isolating. Going to the beach parties became a large part of the following two summers for me, as my friends were always planning new ones after we’d had the last one.
During this time, I started to appreciate what gift water is. Water is peaceful and alive. There are so many services that water provides, including recreation. My friends and I would watch the pirate ship go across the water and spray its cannons at the villain. We would watch people swim and dip ourselves in the water a few times. We would watch the ducks swimming and diving down for food. We would watch the rowboats and kayaks go along, the water glistening. We would talk about our lives. It was a safe space where I felt like I could be me. I felt alive, more connected to life and slightly less afraid.
Great entry! I really relate to feeling much more at peace when near water.
Beautifully written, Julie! Water is peaceful and alive 🙂