Happy Substack Day!
I’ve been thinking a lot about swimming lately. Not least because I have a single out on May 12th called, ‘Swim’. Mainly because I have been exploring mindfulness and I find that swimming, for me, is the perfect meditation, so I’ve rejoined my gym and bought some costumes and made a commitment to splashing and sploshing (not that kind of sploshing, mind- I was once asked by my acting agent if I would consider a sploshing video and let’s just say that once I had googled it, it was a firm NO).
Anyways, the single is a collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society and my wish is that - of course you will love it and listen to it- but that also, more importantly, we will raise both funds and awareness about Alzheimer’s and Dementia Action Week.
‘Swim’ is a really personal song all about how mum, who has Alzheimer’s, never learnt to swim. I will probably talk about this in more detail on here when I am ready to, but last year when we thought we were going to lose mum, I became fixated on the fact that she had never gotten round to learning to swim and how sad and fascinating that was to me. All the things she could have done, all the people we could be if we had the time....
When my time comes, I want to feel like I have at least scratched the surface of my bucket list. I dream about mum open water swimming, the friends she might have made, her wet hair and the feeling of exhilaration. I read to her on some of my visits last year and I brought her ‘The Lido’ and I don’t know if she understood it, but it was comforting.
Mum was quite an anxious lady, scared to try new things and terrified of embarrassment. I’m not surprised she never learned to swim. That said, I’ve made it my mission to be the opposite of that. I’m sure you might have noticed how keen I am to put myself out there and to hell with the consequences. There is little time to be ashamed and I genuinely have very little embarrassment these days.
So do please click the link here to pre-save SWIM and you can also donate there to my Just Giving page- all the funds go straight to Alzheimer’s Society.
I’ve shared the lyrics on there because they really do tell the story, but just in case, here they are. Thanks to Jim Lowe for writing the song with me and turning my sad little song into and epic ballad.
Finally, I wanted to leave you with this thought- never put off tomorrow what can be done today. Go grab life by the giblets- it’s waiting for you!
Much love,
Alexis x
