It's 5:45 in the morning
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Theres a lake out there, I promise. It's 5:45 in the morning and I'm waiting for swim friends to join me in the pouring rain and dark. It's Tuesday of the 4th week of my first level 2 field work rotation as an occupational therapy student in Salem Oregon. I've made swimming here my morning ritual for the last month and missing a swim always makes my day at the hospital a little off. I checked my messages at 5:51 no one is coming. I guess at this point I spend more time swimming alone in conditions I wouldn't recommend other people swim alone in. It's not that I think I'm a better or safer swimmer than others, it's that my soul feels claustrophobic the rest of the day when I don't get my gills wet in the morning. I'm away from my tribe and rather than feeling lonely on my swims it feels right. Like the solitude of swimming even in a group of people is something that's hard to explain. You're never truly with anyone else in th