A short update
The temperatures are finally going down after the hottest weeks ever recorded on planet earth.
Maybe they are now going down a bit too much for my taste, at least in Switzerland. The lake temperatures hit a comfy 25 a couple of weeks ago, while they now stagnate around the 21ish Celsius. The air temperature is much lower too, especially in the morning.
So, a bit of additional challenge for me (and also good news for planet Earth in some ways, no?).
I kept on swimming in the canals and lakes around Amsterdam last week. On Sunday I completed a 7.5k training on my own; luckily enough a friend crossed the bridge under which I was swimming and took a pic.
What a privilege to have a whole canal to myself, uh?
All alone in the Erasmugracht / Foto courtesy of Michele Secchi
Even if swimming is an activity we do singularly (pardon, sync swimmers), and though it mostly relies on our ability to master the use of our body for the sake of buoyancy, it is better when practiced in groups.
By any average metrics, I am a rather reserved person, who loves to spend time on her own. Even when parenthood seems a 100% occupation of any spare time left, I look for quality time on my own. Not a lot and not regularly. Even if only by watching ATP tour highlights on Youtube or reading another chapter of the last book I picked, I need it.
I believe everybody does. But that is another story.
FIND A BUDDY
And yet, when it came down to thinking about the marathon swim, I was sure from the get go that I needed somebody on the boat next to me during the swim. And not just a person from the organisation that makes sure I do not sink, disappear, touch the boat or swim on the wrong side of the lake.
Rather a familiar person, I feel close to.
I had asked a couple of friends to be my co-pilot in my past attempt from 2019 – when my participation was not sure yet. It had to be somebody I know quite well and somebody who understands about swimming or sport in general, also in tough conditions.
This year is going to be Martin, one of my oldest swimming buddies from my Berlin days, and organizer of the swimming holidays I referred to in a previous post .
Martin is passionate about swimming. Next to the job as an engineer, he also worked with Swimtrek.
One way or another, he has consolidated a truly global network of friends with whom he shares the passion for swimming, in the pool and outside. An example? Last year he was in Canada, swimming on different lakes until Covid had him stay isolated for a week.
I am proud to say that some of these friends are also becoming friends of mine.
Martin is one of these people with whom silence is a way to be together too. Whether sitting in a cafe, or after training, he is somebody who uses words sparsely and rather says less than becoming dull. And yet he makes you feel at ease with his presence. At least he does with me.
Communication is not always verbal and company does not necessarily mean active communication: two things I learnt from him a good deal.
No man is an island entire of itself (…)
(J. Donne)
So yes, undergoing a challenge – any challenge – while not being alone is the way to go. And that also applies to the world of L&D.
From whichever perspective you look at it, learning in all its forms postulates also the role of somebody else.
Unless you want to become that character in Sartre’s novel who reads all the books of a library in alphabetical order – as he believes that is the way to be ultimately knowledgeable – you need a different approach. Learning can be a way to proof to someone you are capable of something, a way to apply your knowledge into an existing framework of relationships, a way to engage with a community of knowledge or a way to promote yourself within a given social construct. Either way, the WHY you learn is socially relevant.
And when it comes to HOW we learn, it is beyond doubt that learning from others is good, and that learning with others is even better.
Even if our tendency to buy the oversimplified, technology-driven view of the world makes us believe that all we need is access to books (pdfs, courses and alike) to become proficient, that is simply NOT the case.
Learning is not exclusively social: commitment, self discipline and objectivity are fundamental too.
But becoming proficient in a subject or matter does require regular interactions with others, paired by critique, feedback, motivation and fun.
I am sure that I will get my dose of each during the swim.
Here once more the link to donate
https://www.fightcancer.nl/fundraiser/marcobaldan/marco-swims-the-sri-chinmoy-marathon-swim
