For those of you who don’t know, “Just Keep Swimming” is a quote directly from the fish Dori in Finding Nemo (only the best animated Disney movie ever). As the scuba mask sinks slowly down into the depths of the abyss, Marlin watches as his last chance for finding his son disappears. The gloom appears to rise up and crush any hope of reunion. After fighting off sharks and avoiding exploding ‘balloons’, Marlin’s luck has finally run out. What is a lone fish to do?
When the last glimmer of fluorescent green plastic is swallowed up in the darkness, Dori plunges down after it with no hesitation. “Hey Mr. Grumpy Gills,” she says to start off her song. “When Life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!”
As a fellow swimmer, I have found that I can apply this philosophy not only in the pool at the last leg of a race, but in everyday life as well. Whether it is surviving the few days left until the weekend or the never-ending search for the misplaced car keys, I know I cannot give up. I have to keep fighting for what I want out of life. Now that I have started college and find myself swamped with reading history textbooks, writing papers and trying to comprehend that last physics lecture, I cannot help but think back to Dori’s famous song as I give my blog a title.
