Just keep swimming
PLUS: a controversial opinion about air conditioning
TW: Discussion of fatphobia and disordered eating
A thing that’s working for me: Writing outside
I am very lucky to have a garden in London. I’m also very lucky that the previous owners left us their swing bench, because we would never have thought to purchase one ourselves.
When the weather isn’t face-meltingly hot (as I write this we are in between our second and third heatwaves of the year – and it’s still only June), sitting on that swing bench and doing some writing with my dog leaning against my shins is a delight.
Fun fact: a friend of mine is both a medical doctor and working on his PhD on health and climate change. He’s a clever dude! And he says that air conditioning – a very popular topic of conversation at the moment - has very little effect on health outcomes on a population level. Air conditioning might increase individual comfort – but it won’t save many lives. What matters far more is access to green spaces and shade. Both of which I’m fortunate to have access to with my covered swing bench in my garden.
A thing I’m working on: Rewriting my opening scene
I’m broadly happy with my opening for Selkie, my TV historical drama script. However, our writing group has been given the task of rewriting our opening scenes, and after discussing it with my peers, I’ve thought of some tweaks to make it punchier and make my protagonist more active. Thanks, gang!
A thing I’m enjoying: Swimming
This has nothing to do with comedy, but I just wanted to tell you that I started swimming ten weeks ago after a fifteen-year gap, and I’m having a lovely time.
And during my lovely time, it’s been hammered home to me time and time again that our society spouts some ABSOLUTE DRIVEL when it comes to exercise.
Here are some very common negative narratives around the simple practise of moving our bodies regularly:
LOSE WEIGHT!!!
No pain, no gain!
Exercise is punishment!
Get bikini body ready!
LOSE WEIGHT!!!
Exercise is what endure to ‘earn’ tasty food! OTHERWISE YOU DON’T DESERVE IT!
How many calories did you burn?!
What was your time? What was your distance? What are you training for? YOU HAVE TO HAVE A GOAL.
Exercise is TERRIBLE and AWFUL and HORRIBLE.
Exercise is what you must do to be a good, successful person!!!
If you want to be beautiful – and, of course, that is your primary goal if you’re a woman – then you must exercise!
LOSE WEIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We all know that this is toxic bullshit - but it’s still seeped into our pores.
Over the past few years, we have made some progress and developed some better narratives that don’t make me want to set fire to a David Lloyd leisure centre:
Probably live longer!
Probably stay healthier for longer!
Be nice to your cardiovascular system!
Help prevent dementia!
Train for your old age by decreasing your likelihood of frailty and falls! (One of my family members has always prided herself on being skinny. She ‘achieved’ said skinniness through genetics and diet, not exercise. She is now frail.)
But for me, these positive narratives ALSO miss the mark. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to benefit from all those probable advantages, but they’re not why I exercise.
I exercise because I enjoy it.
Exercise is not something I do to meet another goal. Exercise is the goal.
PE teachers have a lot to answer for. When I was in secondary school, the idea that I’d ever move my body on purpose for fun would have been ridiculous. Instead of helping us find a sport we enjoyed for the rest of our lives, our PE teachers made line up in gym knickers (what was wrong with trackie bottoms and shorts?!) to do high-jump one at a time in front of our peers. Who does high jump as an adult?! What was the point of that cold, ritual humiliation other than to prove that, yes, I am very short and high jump is very high?
Here are the real reasons I exercise regularly. I didn’t benefit from all these immediately – I often had to work at one for a bit to realise what worked for my body – and what I happen to enjoy will probably be slightly different for you.
Swimming:
The water feels nice, especially during heatwaves or cold weather.
It feels great to get into a rhythm and feel my muscles working quite hard but not too hard.
I swim at a community leisure centre and I enjoy being part of the community. There’s school lessons, outings for disabled people, parents and kids splashing about – at a time where we’re increasingly siloed, it’s nice to feel part of the place where I live.
The mindfulness it brings – I have to focus on keeping my arms shoulder-length apart, stretching my fingertips out in front of me, exhaling fully, keeping my eyes on the bottom of the pool, kicking from the hips, kicking lightly, engaging my core, not rotating my whole body when breathing and keeping my body aligned to the surface. I achieve maybe two of those at any one time, but attempting technical competence means that I’m forced to connect with my body and be present in the moment.
Squash:
It’s fun! It’s an enjoyable game in of itself.
I play with my husband so it’s a good way to connect with him.
I love the noise the squash ball makes when it hits the racquet in just the right way.
A clean straight backhand drive is a thing of aesthetic beauty.
Walking:
I’m so lucky that I live in such a beautiful part of the world (which, yes, is in South London). Being immersed in greenery is a lovely feeling!
I’m usually out walking the dog, and a Springer Spaniel running around is a joy to behold.
My husband and I go out for a lunchtime dog walk most weekdays, and it’s a great way to chat and catch up.
I get loads of creative ideas when I’m out walking.
You may hate all three of those things – and that’s fine. But the powers that be have convinced us that exercise is boring, hard and fundamentally a sign of self-loathing AND IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. It annoys me how many people are missing out on something so enjoyable because other people imbued it with so much misery.
It’s your body, go enjoy it.
Did I do the thing from before to build connection? Technically YES.
I said I wasn’t going to do anything to build connections because there was a heatwave. And I achieved this. Well done me.
A thing I’m doing to build connections: Go to another Royal Court writers’ event.
I’ve been to a Writers’ Card networking event before and successfully wrote some stuff, ate a nice lunch and had good chats with other writers – so I’ve signed up to do this again in July.