Navigating grief: an autoethnographic tale of open water swimming and loss

This paper aims to show how using blue spaces has enabled the author to rebuild parts of herself again following the death of her father. Few studies have provided personal narratives of the influence and transformative nature of blue spaces, especially in association with grief. Through the use of autoethnographic writing, the author expands knowledge on how the immersion in bodies of water can be a therapeutic accretive practice which leads to palliative healing. The paper also contributes to the growing blue space literature, and how everyday encounters and liquid connections with this water world provides individuals with connection, belonging, and healing.