Welcome to Women in the Water’s first newsletter! We’re so stoked you’re here and taking the energetic dive into this platform created for womxn to educate, inspire, champion inclusivity, and actively participate in Ocean stewardship activities.
Words By Lindsey Geier
This newsletter will provide a monthly splash into your inbox with stories from our last event, details on our next event, and more insight into what this community is all about.
In this first one, I’d like to splash into why we’re here.
Womxn tend to be more relational beings. It stems from back in the cave day; Men would hunt while the women stayed on the homefront and learned how to converse with one another. We were the foundation of communicating and relating.
So it only makes sense the #1 thing most women can agree on when they get into the Ocean is that they can always count on another woman in the water to be welcoming.
Our First Event - Community Potluck
In early December, WITW had our first gathering at Sunkissed Pantry, a Zero Waste Essentials Shop in town (the BEST!) Much food was enjoyed, connections were made, and stoke was created as we watched our good friend Jordyn Romero’s surf film, We Are Like Waves. If you were there and reading this, you will now discover why I asked you, “What brought you here?”.
The most commonly used phrase of that evening was,
“I was nervous/alone and then she helped/included me….”.
And this, ladies, is why we’re here. We all seem to share the same feeling of some sort of nervousness with being the “only woman” out doing something rad. Or wanting to learn something new and hoping there’s a Womxn to look to for help. We’re all used to seeing the boys out there, but when a woman is in the water before us, I know we all feel that sigh of ease. That knowing of “she will help me if I need it.” And this, ladies, is what we bring to the table. Womxn brings warmth, nurturance, intuition, and an “I’m so stoked for you!!!” feeling to the water.
New Beginnings
As we kick off 2024 with the “raddest group in Santa Barbara!!!” we hope that you join us at one of our monthly gatherings where we’ll connect, learn, and inspire. We hope you ask us to help you with that activity you’ve been curious about but haven’t tried yet. We hope you get so stoked for the Womxn In The Water Festival that we’re planning. And we hope you extend that welcoming hand, that high five, and that womanly warmth to the rest of Santa Barbara.
Our Second Event - Tidepooling at Devereux
In high tide or in low tide…well we had a low-low tide due to a “King Tide” on a Saturday in January. Guided Tidepooling was the perfect educational event for WITW to celebrate it. “King Tides” are the highest and lowest tides of the year. Lauren Enright, a UCSB Marine Researcher, artist, and Dive Master, was our tidepooling guide. She helped us identify some of the mysterious creatures only a low tide can show. We even found a tiny Octopus, which brought out the giddy kid in us. Ruth Dover, VP of Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute, also joined us to share how to get involved with CIMWI (click here for volunteer opportunities). Co-founder Lyndsey brought the warmth by sharing tea and snacks at the end. T’was a beautiful and cozy evening, thanks to all who came.
We had a great turnout at Devereux. Womxn and allies of all backgrounds joined in on the fun. Photos: Arielle Robles
Upcoming
Our next event will be a theme of “Love” since it will be near Valentine’s Day. This could look like Self-love, love for the Ocean, love for your pet, partner, family, or friend. We will have a professional therapist who will guide us at the Beach. She will lead us to fill ourselves with more love so that our cup is overflowing and we can give the rest to the world around us. We will also be crafting handmade Love Letters to teach us how to channel our love into the “old school” letter form. Stay tuned for more details on this Love-centered February event!
Lastly, in future Newsletters, WaterWoman Lindsey Geier will be adding her creative drizzles of poems, short stories, blogs, and vlogs that are created to help us feel more of a connection with the depths of ourselves and the Ocean. They will also be found on our website and other social channels in the future.
So much is in store for this community, and we can’t thank you enough for showing up.
Stay stoked, yew!
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