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Deep Dive–No Thanks!

Kait Leonard
5 min readMay 27, 2024

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I dream of living by the ocean, but you won’t see me in the water. Not me! Have you seen the monsters of the deep?

Photo by Alice AliNari: https://www.pexels.com/photo/underwater-photography-of-a-mermaid-9677984/

I dream of living by the ocean, the waves crashing as close to my front door as possible. I love everything about this fantasy, but it takes an ominous turn if I think of going into the water. I don’t even want the calmest swell covering the top of my foot. That’s too far in for me, no thank you! At that point, my dream of the ocean turns into my worst nightmare. I wouldn’t even consider skimming the surface on a boat. Nope!

I’m not afraid of water. I swim just fine. I’ve simply never understood the infatuation with going into this underwater world filled mostly with beings who don’t even breathe air. For example, I don’t need to run into the giant oarfish, a harbinger that something ominous is about to happen…as if running into an oarfish isn’t ominous enough! And a big “No Thanks” to the vampire squid and all their friends. Probably because I can’t get my head around any of this, I’m obsessed with people who take every opportunity to swim with the fishes… and whatever else is under there. Perhaps I’m hoping they can help me understand and free me from my terror. Perhaps it’s like that impulse to slow down and look at car accidents in the next lane or to watch horror movies. I don’t know.

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Kait Leonard
Kait Leonard

Written by Kait Leonard

Kait Leonard writes about quirky characters, astrology, and leaving the city. She shares her life with five parrots and her gigantic American bulldog, Seeger.

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