Also: We cried for Tracy Chapman. And all our small towns and fast cars [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  February 11, 2024 Dear Cog reader, When Libby DeLana first saw videos of people in giant tubs full of water and ice, she couldn't imagine why on earth anyone would ever do such a thing. In fact, she couldnât imagine anything more uncomfortable. Yet a quiet part of her also wondered: âCould I do it?â I have a personal stake in[Libbyâs reflection about cold water dipping]( this week, because I, too, was curious about the cold. Dipping (or plunging or polar-bearing, whatever you want to call it) seems to be everywhere these days. It was the premise of a New York Times [photo essay]( the subject of a New Yorker [documentary]( and a [NPR Life Kit]( But for Libby â and for me â dipping is more than a health fad, it's a way to be in the world. (And I write this fully understanding how dramatic it sounds. Bear with me.) Years ago, Libby met âIcemanâ Wim Hof, the Dane who is widely regarded as the godfather of the mainstream cold exposure movement. She didnât start dipping at the time, but she was intrigued by the idea and tucked it away. Libby began her practice in the early days of the pandemic, just as she was also navigating some tectonic changes in her personal life: a marriage unraveling, career uncertainty and a newly empty nest. The things she most identified with were shifting. I started a little bit later. I got interested in the idea after reading Katherine Mayâs book, âWintering.â It was early March 2022, and Iâd ceased being able to feel anything â good or bad. It was a disconcerting sensation, the result of two years of COVID and isolation and brutal news cycles. May wrote about cold water with such reverence that I decided to try it with two friends. We went to Walden Pond, stripped down to our bathing suits and waded into frigid waters. One friend decided immediately that it wasnât for her. The other friend and I kept at it. Now we go at least once a week, sometimes twice. Getting in the water at Stiles Pond in Boxford, where I took a reporting trip with Libby. She took this photo from shore. Hereâs what I can tell you: It doesnât get any easier. Sliding into 37 degree water is uncomfortable; no matter how many times you do it, it hurts. Two years ago, I wouldâve been awfully sheepish about having my picture taken in a bathing suit. Now, I allowed it to happen without thinking twice â for work, of all things. I crave getting into the water for the dopamine rush, yes, but also for the profoundly vulnerable experience Iâve found it to be, between me and nature, and me and my friend. We are, quite literally, baring it all to the world, as we offer grace to ourselves and each other. With every exposure, Iâve learned to tolerate the discomfort a little bit better, and that has had implications on all sorts of things in other areas of my life. Libby gets in five to six times a week, and she almost always dips with a group of women â sometimes two, sometimes 50. She says she doesnât know where sheâd be without them. âWe laugh. We yelp. We can hardly believe that weâre hacking through the ice,â she writes. For Libby, the physical act of getting in the water, alongside with the community of people sheâs discovered, has helped remind her what sheâs capable of. If youâre cold-water curious, nowâs the time. Come on in, before the water gets too warm. Until soon, Cloe Axelson
Senior Editor, Cognoscenti
[Follow]( Support the news  Must Reads
[How cold water became my solid ground](
I thought getting in freezing cold water would be miserable and hard, and it was. But after a while, it became a near-daily exercise in redefining myself, writes Libby DeLana. When I got in the water, I could see myself clearly. [Read more.](
[How cold water became my solid ground](
I thought getting in freezing cold water would be miserable and hard, and it was. But after a while, it became a near-daily exercise in redefining myself, writes Libby DeLana. When I got in the water, I could see myself clearly. [Read more.](
[We cried for Tracy Chapman. And all our small towns and fast cars](
I did not come from a fast car family, but I came of age around fast car boys who drag raced on quarter-mile stretches of highway, writes Susan Donovan Bernhard. Tracy Chapman tapped into something fragile and raw and aching. [Read more.](
[We cried for Tracy Chapman. And all our small towns and fast cars](
I did not come from a fast car family, but I came of age around fast car boys who drag raced on quarter-mile stretches of highway, writes Susan Donovan Bernhard. Tracy Chapman tapped into something fragile and raw and aching. [Read more.](
[Joni Mitchell is still âthe best of all of usâ](
Awards shows are full of personalities, posing and performing. But in the utter silence that descended on the room when Joni began to sing from the Grammy stage, another message emerged, writes Alysia Abbott. None of this matters. None of it. [Read more.](
[Joni Mitchell is still âthe best of all of usâ](
Awards shows are full of personalities, posing and performing. But in the utter silence that descended on the room when Joni began to sing from the Grammy stage, another message emerged, writes Alysia Abbott. None of this matters. None of it. [Read more.](
[New Patriots coach Jerod Mayo sees in color. That's important](
As the first Black head coach of the New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo is making history. Rather than trying to minimize himself and his experience, Mayo has chosen to embrace the discomfort of difference â to be unapologetically himself, writes Khari Thompson. [Read more.](
[New Patriots coach Jerod Mayo sees in color. That's important](
As the first Black head coach of the New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo is making history. Rather than trying to minimize himself and his experience, Mayo has chosen to embrace the discomfort of difference â to be unapologetically himself, writes Khari Thompson. [Read more.](
[Helping refugees settle in the U.S., one family at a time](
Private sponsorship is a pathway to bring in people who may be fleeing war, violence and persecution. This approach, recently expanded by President Biden, could ease some of our countryâs immigration challenges, writes Sasha Chanoff. [Read more.](
[Helping refugees settle in the U.S., one family at a time](
Private sponsorship is a pathway to bring in people who may be fleeing war, violence and persecution. This approach, recently expanded by President Biden, could ease some of our countryâs immigration challenges, writes Sasha Chanoff. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "I am not the enemy of the people, dude â we were in Cub Scouts together." "[We Were Friends for Years. Trump Tore Us Apart.]( The New York Times. "[D]eath doulas can help the dying to resolve long-simmering personal conflicts with an estranged family member or friend ... They can help the dying find meaning in the life that is drawing to a close." "[What is a good death?]( The Boston Globe. "I live on the fault line at the intersection of two axes â illness and wellness â and two planes: what is and what could have been." "[Flying Solo]( Longreads. "I did not come from a fast car family, but I came of age around fast car boys who drag raced on quarter-mile stretches of highway." âSusan Donovan Bernhard, "[We cried for Tracy Chapman. And all our small towns and fast cars]( ICYMI
[The world has changed so much in the span of my teenage years. Why havenât our politics?](
Like most young voters, I'm not enthusiastic about President Joe Biden as a candidate, writes Josephine Almond, who will vote for the first time this year. But Iâm going to vote for him anyway, and I urge other young people to do the same â and then take charge of our own futures through activism. [Read more.](
[The world has changed so much in the span of my teenage years. Why havenât our politics?](
Like most young voters, I'm not enthusiastic about President Joe Biden as a candidate, writes Josephine Almond, who will vote for the first time this year. But Iâm going to vote for him anyway, and I urge other young people to do the same â and then take charge of our own futures through activism. [Read more.]( If youâd like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 🔎 Explore [WBUR's Field Guide]( stories, events and more. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news Â
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