What Lake Life Taught Me About Real Life

There are few things I relish more than cannonballing into water.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize this is the ultimate metaphor. My method of washing away responsibility, adult-ness and answerability.

What is it about lake life?

The idea of minimalism? That feeling of childhood? Maybe just a great tan and Vitamin D overdose.

Jumping in the lake transports us into a space that is very difficult to recreate under normal circumstances. It conjures up old memories and provides a setting to make new ones. If I could freeze any moment, it would be underwater.

What Lake Life Taught Me About Real Life:

1. There is art in doing nothing.

2.  BBQing is more than just an activity. It is a critical life-skill and one that should be taken quite seriously.

3. Showering is for the weak.

4. Impactful, shaping conversations don’t occur unless we make time and openings for them.

5. Day drinking is a very legitimate pastime.

6. Painting rocks is therapeutic.

7. Just like in regular life, boys will break your heart and push you overboard.

8. Engaging with the elements gives you a feeling of accomplishment beyond measure. (Cliff diving, swimming, skiing, building a sandcastle.)

9. Sunscreen is important, but everyone feels good with a tan.

10. Cooking is meant to be a relaxed, collective process.

11. Water has enchanted healing properties; physically and emotionally.

12. Community is everything.

13. Time travel is real. As the world spins and changes, the lake doesn’t.

14. The simplest things make you the happiest. (Skinny-dipping, campfires and warm sand.)

15. What you do for a living doesn’t matter as much as what you’re doing in the moment.