"Intensity". My oil painting and a scary story from my childhood.
Do you remember how you learned to swim?
I know a lot of stories when people had different kinds of sh*t and after that they were very afraid of water, afraid of depth and never learned to swim.
There was a similar story in my life, a scary story. Want to listen?
When I was 7, I went on vacation to my grandfather. Grandfather lived right next to a huge river. He often went fishing and harvesting hay for pets.
Almost every day we took bikes and rushed at great speed to the river surrounded by meadows and flowering plains.
On one of these trips, trouble struck me.
I walked around the cliff, there the water was especially deep. I was picking flowers and thinking about something else. And, of course, I noticed too late that I came very close to the very edge of the cliff.
My foot slipped down and I literally flew into the water.
I screamed, waved my arms and called for help. But grandfather was far away and nobody heard me. I was completely alone and I couldn’t swim.
Forces left me, I lost air. At that moment I was terribly scary and it came to my head the realization that no one would help me and that I would die right now.
It is such a terrible feeling that I cannot describe it in words.
Then I decided to give myself one last chance, I desperately started rowing with my hands and feet.
You will not believe, but a miracle happened! I realized that I no longer strive to the bottom, but stay on the water and I move forward!
I do not remember how, but I got to the shore. I lay on the beach for a long time, I could not speak, I felt only fear.
And what do you think? After this incident, I firmly decided that I would learn to swim and swim well.
I am now 26 lt. Most of these years I have been swimming professionally. I participated in many competitions in the scale of my country, received many prizes.
The water not only did not scare me for the rest of my life, it did not break me, it gave me the realization that I can do a lot, that I am strong and I can manage.
Dear friends who are afraid of water and do not know how to swim! It is never too late to step forward and overcome your fear. Water is not scary. She can be your friend and helper if you trust her.
Thank you for reading this publication to the end! Love to all!
All images of this publication belong to me.
That is a truely frightening and life changing experience to have at any age. It takes a strong, resilient and old soul to step up and overcome such an experience especially at such a young age as you did.
I love how you captured the movement of the waves in your painting and all the different mood like shades of blue, green and grey. I really enjoy seeing your art work! :)
Thank you very much! I tried very hard to convey the depth of the shades and the dynamics of the water.
As for my story, I agree, this is a great and not very pleasant experience. Over time, I learned to experience any experience positively. I think that if this situation had not happened to me, I would not have achieved such success as today.
That's a gorgeous story of overcoming your fear and turning it into a strength, @extractum-lunae ! What a wonderful post ! I am glad that you did not give up and that you somehow survived .... Years later, and you are even a champion swimmer :D You are impressive \o/ !!!
The drawing is really lovely, also. The movements and the waves of the sea are captured so vividly and with such liveliness in this artwork <3 I love how you used the colours, blending and mixing blues and greens to create a sensation of both depth and movements in the waters.... And how lovely the highlights are! They generate very convincing touches of the element of liquid ! :D
I really enjoyed this post <3 Wonderful artwork and wonderful story <3
Thank you very much! I tried very hard) It was a bit embarrassing for me to share such an experience and come back again and experience these children's emotions and fear, but it seemed to me important to share this with you. Suddenly I will help someone with this publication to overcome my fear? It will be so great!
What an awesome story. I'm glad it had a happy end. I love this message of facing fear and allowing it to push you further.
Personally, I love swimming, always have. Just something about the water that feels like home, I guess...
Great picture, by the way ;)
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Thanks for your comment! I share with you your delight and love for water. You have no idea how glad I am that this story ended well for me)
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Hi there @extractum-lunae!
Oh my! That seems to be a very traumatic experience! But yeah, im glad you had overcome it and used it to survive. I have had almost the same experience with waters. I am not a great swimmer either, I always seem to panic when I know how deep the water is. I practically forget my swimming lessons and just do all the flip and flaps all at the same time, which doesn't really works. I still reached the bottom. I knoooow! Its crazy!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us and how you had turn it into a driving force to face your fears.
Congrats on your curie love! Cheers! ❤
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Yes, I agree with you. However, as time passed, I try not to think about it as something negative.
At first, I also always had a panic. Especially if I imagined that I could not reach the bottom with my legs. This feeling was a long time. A small trick helped me: every time when I was covered with a wave of panic, not water)) I tried to relax and move slowly, measuredly, as shown in the diagrams))) The correctness and balance of movements returned and I did not look like a splashing ball trying to escape as close as possible to the shore.
I believe that you will succeed. A little practice, a little faith in yourself and you will be a great swimmer!)
this is definitely a story that teaches how sometimes we can transform negative experiences to our advantage and become stronger and more aware of our abilities, thank you for sharing
Thank you very much for your support)) I think that along with the ability to swim, I learned another very important thing: everything that happens in our life can be directed to benefit. I think that this is a very useful bonus, which will not let you break yourself when difficulties occur in life!)
Great art and even better story.
Very inspiring.
I have a great deal of respect for nature in general. Its forces make us feel insignificant (water, wind, shockwaves, fire). As you suggested, most people get traumatize and develop phobias out of this sort of experiences.
I too had a couple of similar dear-death experiences in rivers. I grew up with two rivers that divided my barrio from the town and in the winter those two creeks combined an impressive body of muddy water that would drag entire big trees, animals and people (many died drown over the years).
It was a rite of passage to swim in the river when it was grown and flooding the town. It was like a bird being dropped from its nest. I did learn to swim eventually, forced by circumstances, but I do not like water as much as to practice any water sport :)
Your art captures both the beauty and power of this element.
Thanks so much for your story! A very strong story and how to be a brave spirit person to get through it, survive and move on! I sincerely regret that during this event there were sacrifices and human grief, but I am glad that you are alive! Everything that happens to us is a valuable experience that we will remember for a lifetime and will be able to pass on to our children!
The value you had was great, you left me in your story a good answer. In spite of having in your back our big fears, you can fight until you turn it into a memory, congratulations!
Many thanks for your support! I sincerely believe that each of us will be broken by circumstances and fears and will find the strength to live and move on!