Swimming in a pool, as opposed to a lake.
A pool is man made, sterilized and contained. Less chance of unseen creatures in a pool, and if there are any, they will be visible. A public place. You know when it ends, how deep it is, who’s in it. It’s a place of surveillance. It’s tiled, unlike a lake which is often muddy. The comparisons between pool and lake are a stretch.
A lake is a wild animal. I imagine the lake at night. You know swimming in a lake at night may be the scariest thing ever? What creatures will grab at your feet? What’s waiting to bite you?: Everything. Walking in a lake, your feet sink in mud. And what creatures are in the mud? Leeches, probably, just off the top of my head.
They put sewage in the lake because it’s so big, and the lake will take care of it. Try putting sewage in a pool. Ew. When you see a booger in the pool you are disgusted. There are also bandaids in it; sweat, spit, and sometimes, if it’s a crowded pool at the YMCA, a kid will poo in it, and the poo will float, visible to all... Hair, dead skin, toenails. The blurry boundaries of our bodies are amplified in pools, because if you see our boundaries at close distance in the water, the water acts as a lens. Yes, the pool is a very clean place, and if there is any disturbance in it’s cleanness, we freak out.
Whereas, the animal that is the lake takes care of all that, and simultaneously welcomes us in it’s refreshing arms. But lakes cannot always be trusted. Where is the lifeguard, for example? The lifeguard is the cliffs, and they would be happy to see you drown to death. In fact, they would probably have a good laugh. Yes, a lake reconnects us to our primitives selves. Monkeys like water, I’ve seen it in Baraka.
A pool, when designed and built has a purpose towards our human wants. A pool is for pleasure. However, going to “swim club” every Wednesday with my older sisters was anything but pleasurable. The oul lady swim instructor did nothing but make us feel bad about ourselves and humiliate us.
Whereas, when traveling, hotels with swimming pools were the most sought after.
Water is dangerous. It is the most dangerous element of the four. By building pools, it’s our try at containing the danger, surveilling it, regulating it, so that we can enjoy it.
Jumping in a lake is like jumping off a building. Jumping off a cliff sized building into a lake is exponential danger.
So, water holds surprises within it’s murky depths. Pools try their best to eliminate the surprises.
Lakes are the genuine source of fear and amazement.
You know we all started off as single celled organisms in nothing but ocean?
I won’t even talk about the ocean now. I couldn’t bear it.
And let’s not forget the purifying nature of water.
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