After I wrote the blog post yesterday about being terrified of the sea and swimming pools with dark bottoms, I received many suggestions for articles about thalassophobia, the fear of deep bodies of water such as the sea, oceans, or lakes.
I am terrified of the sea and other bodies of open water. I feel the sea belongs to the creatures in it, not to us. For that reason I hate seeing sharks being vilified and murdered for killing humans. The sea is their home. We do not belong there.
I did find some terrifying photos though, which (to me anyway) encapsulated what I find so terrifying about open water (including dark swimming pools). The original list had 142 images, and you can find it here
…and these come from the thalassophobia subreddit.
I am torn between being utterly terrified and utterly excited about water. I now live in the countryside and my body physically aches for the ocean or the sea. Whenever we go on holiday, we usually go either to the Mediterranean or to the Atlantic coast and the first dip I take into the sea is like being baptized. However, I do not trust lakes because they are so dark or even green. Waves demand respect. I used to live by the sea when I was a kid and despite everyone I knew who was surfing, this was never really for me. Still, I yearn to live by the sea so that I can see the colours of the sky and water change with the weather…
I love being near water, and at the sea. I find it so big that it calms me and puts my problems into perspective. But actually going into it is what really freaks me out. I love swimming in a chlorinated pool where I can see the bottom. But in the sea, big nope!
I am the same way. I love to walk at the edge of the ocean, but I don’t want to go in over my knees. I like swimming in swimming pools. I hate swimming in lakes.
I have never gone swimming in the ocean. I am more afraid of currents than creatures. The only time I have been in water where I can’t see the bottom or there was a fast current was during training to know what to do in case you end up in that spot.
I love the ocean. I like boats, but I believe in life preservers.