Finishing it up! Project Participant #40 today!

The day has come! Project: Face in Water (as it originally exists) is finishing today. Well, the instructional piece of it will be finished- I will still blog about Participants #35-40.

I cannot believe it has a been a year since I resigned from the swim school I called home for 16 years. I knew there was something big out there, waiting for me to discover and I was right. Now, a year later, what started out as a personal, pro bono project, has turned into new perspectives and dreams being discovered. This is the case for Project: Face in Water Participant #40, 52-year-old Janet. Learning to swim is Janet's New Year's Resolution, as well as top priority on her bucket list. She will have her one hour swim lesson with me today at THE Swim School San Diego in Point Loma. And...my wonderful friend, Kehaulani Crooks of Wonderstruck Photography will be taking photos!

What a journey this has been! It’s amazing how many people, especially adults, can’t swim. Since I began Project: Face in Water, non-swimmers seem to have appeared out of nowhere. Last April, Nicole (Participant #6) wrote an article about Project: Face in Water that ran in The Beacon and The Beach and Bay Press. The floodgates opened and individuals that I’ve never met sent e-mails, pouring their hearts out, sharing their fears and asking for my help. It was so unexpected. I thought I’d have to seek out participants, but they came to me. Janet’s e-mail was the first one I read- I’m so excited to share this with her. In the e-mail, Janet said, “I've gone to two different places to sign up for swimming lessons, but walked out each time. So here I am, seeing if you still have room in your program for me.” Let's do this, Janet!