Life constantly calls us to balance between being present and moving forward. In navigating our personal and professional lives, we often oscillate between stillness and momentum.
Three metaphors illuminate this journey: just keep breathing, just keep swimming, and looking at the wake. Each offers unique guidance for grounding ourselves, driving forward, and reflecting on the past. By exploring these ideas through personal experience, popular stories, and literature, we can uncover valuable insights into living with intention and balance.
Just Keep Breathing – The Art of Presence
As part for our first Threaded Poets Society Communi Team cohort, we've been exploring life experiences and metaphors. For Jorge, the phrase just keep breathing took on deep personal meaning during a diving experience that turned unexpectedly dangerous. In that critical moment, the instinct might have been to race to the surface — to escape. But the truth in diving is simple: panic is your greatest enemy. Trusting in your body and equipment, slowing your breath, and allowing the moment to pass is what ensures survival. In the depth, breathing becomes not just a physical act, but a grounding force, reminding us that staying present often offers the safest and wisest path forward.
Similarly, in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Pi survives by letting go of time and focusing on each moment as it comes:
"Time is an illusion that only makes us pant. I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time."
Pi’s endurance rests in his ability to breathe through fear, surrendering to the present rather than being overwhelmed by the unknown. This mirrors how, in our own lives, anchoring ourselves in the present allows us to weather even the most turbulent waters.
Just Keep Swimming – The Drive to Move Forward
The second mindset, just keep swimming, comes from the beloved character Dory in Finding Nemo. Dory, despite her short-term memory challenges, embodies relentless optimism and persistence. Her simple mantra encourages forward motion, even when the path ahead feels uncertain or daunting.
Dory’s playful persistence reflects the human need to keep moving, even without clarity.
Motion, even in small steps, prevents stagnation. In our own lives, when projects stall or life becomes heavy, sometimes the most important thing is simply to keep going. Not recklessly, but with the understanding that progress is made step by step, or stroke by stroke.
Looking at the Wake – Reflecting on the Past
The third mindset — looking at the wake — invites us to reflect on the path we've already traveled. Unlike the immediacy of breathing or the push to swim forward, this is a call to observe the impact we've left behind. Not to dwell, but to understand and integrate.
In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, the ocean around Pi constantly reflects his isolation and survival. As Pi watches the shifting waters, the sea becomes a living record of his journey — its calm and turbulence echoing his internal states. This mirrors how our own actions leave ripples behind us, shaping the waters we continue to navigate.
"I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go."
This reflection acknowledges the importance of looking back, not to hold on, but to understand and release. The wake is both evidence of where we've been and a reminder that the vessel must continue forward.
The Interplay of Breathing, Swimming, and Watching the Wake
These three mindsets are deeply interconnected. There are moments to breathe deeply and ground ourselves, times to swim with determination, and times to look at the wake and learn.
Overemphasising one can unbalance us — constant motion without reflection leads to burnout, while too much stillness can foster stagnation. Likewise, being trapped in the past prevents forward movement.
Life's challenge is knowing when to engage each state: when to pause, when to push ahead, and when to reflect. Together, they form a rhythm that carries us forward with intention and understanding.
By weaving together the lessons of just keep breathing, just keep swimming, and looking at the wake, we can better navigate life's complexities. Breathing teaches presence. Swimming encourages persistence. Watching the wake fosters reflection. Together, they create a balanced, thoughtful approach to living—one that honours where we've been, where we are, and where we're going.
What wake are you leaving behind, and how will it shape the waters ahead?
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