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Midstream : A Life Remade in 50 Swims
Overview
"A winning narrative...guided by a road map for joy. A poignant portrait of a woman stepping into her power in middle age."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
A memoir of jumping feet first into a new life, reclaiming long-forgotten joys, and discovering a renewed sense of self after divorce A fresh vision of midlife to women who have abandoned themselves in service of others As Kate Washington approached her 50th birthday, she was also contemplating ending a 23-year marriage in which she had become so focused on serving others that she'd lost her sense of self. To find herself again, she embarked on what she calls the 50 Dunks Project. The rules: Go to 50 different bodies of water--swimming holes, hot springs, rivers, lakes, creeks, and oceans. Immerse fully, head under water. Chronicle the dunk with a picture and a post. Complete the challenge by the time she turned 50. Largely set in Kate's native California but taking us as far as southern France, dunking us in the waters of the American River, Lake Tenaya, Big Chico Creek, the Rive Gard, and beyond, Kate shares the highlights of her 50 Dunk challenge--including dozens of fantastic, semi-secret places to swim. Along the way, she combines self-examination, wry humor, lyrical description, and cultural critique to illuminate the factors that so often cause women to lose themselves. Midstream makes the case for embracing joy and pleasure as a necessary act of resistance, both for individuals and for the culture at large.Customers Also Bought
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780807023549
- ISBN-10: 080702354X
- Publisher: Beacon Press
- Publish Date: July 2026
- Dimensions: 8.61 x 5.61 x 1.01 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.79 pounds
- Page Count: 216
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Known for her work on caregiving and burnout, Kate Washington explored the complications of navigating the multiple crises of her husband’s health in 2021’s Already Toast. With Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims, she complicates that narrative further by admitting that though her husband’s health has stabilized, the rockiness of their marriage—and her satisfaction with it—has not. As she approaches her 50th birthday, mired in discontent and alienated from her own desires, Washington undertakes what she calls “a fun quest”: The 50 Dunks Project, whereby she will fully immerse herself in 50 different natural bodies of water before she turns 50. Midstream is the chronicle of her quest and the self-discovery and acceptance she uncovers along the way. After years of putting her family before herself, Washington comes to a startling realization: “I didn’t have a language for articulating my needs to myself, much less to others.” Having always loved the water, she hopes the 50 Dunks Project will be a way to reconnect with herself. “I was midstream in my life,” she writes, “and it was up to me what I did with the latter part of it; either I could keep pushing against the current, exhausting myself in the process, or I could find an easier, more satisfying flow.” As she describes her various paths to the water, Washington sometimes focuses more on the emotional turmoil of considering a separation from her husband than on the underwater excursions themselves. But readers, especially those who have felt a similar pull as they ponder a life they didn’t fully choose for themselves, will relate, recognizing the undeniable force of that difficult decision and its ripple of consequences. The descriptions, when they come, are transporting, as in the cavern she explores with a few friends: “Inside lay a glorious underground swimming hole, with a series of arched spaces like chapels in an eerie cathedral stretching back to a faint light filtering in.” Self-indulgent in spots but ultimately empowering, Midstream is perfect for anyone at midlife asking themselves: “Is this all there is?”
Known for her work on caregiving and burnout, Kate Washington explored the complications of navigating the multiple crises of her husband’s health in 2021’s Already Toast. With Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims, she complicates that narrative further by admitting that though her husband’s health has stabilized, the rockiness of their marriage—and her satisfaction with it—has not. As she approaches her 50th birthday, mired in discontent and alienated from her own desires, Washington undertakes what she calls “a fun quest”: The 50 Dunks Project, whereby she will fully immerse herself in 50 different natural bodies of water before she turns 50. Midstream is the chronicle of her quest and the self-discovery and acceptance she uncovers along the way. After years of putting her family before herself, Washington comes to a startling realization: “I didn’t have a language for articulating my needs to myself, much less to others.” Having always loved the water, she hopes the 50 Dunks Project will be a way to reconnect with herself. “I was midstream in my life,” she writes, “and it was up to me what I did with the latter part of it; either I could keep pushing against the current, exhausting myself in the process, or I could find an easier, more satisfying flow.” As she describes her various paths to the water, Washington sometimes focuses more on the emotional turmoil of considering a separation from her husband than on the underwater excursions themselves. But readers, especially those who have felt a similar pull as they ponder a life they didn’t fully choose for themselves, will relate, recognizing the undeniable force of that difficult decision and its ripple of consequences. The descriptions, when they come, are transporting, as in the cavern she explores with a few friends: “Inside lay a glorious underground swimming hole, with a series of arched spaces like chapels in an eerie cathedral stretching back to a faint light filtering in.” Self-indulgent in spots but ultimately empowering, Midstream is perfect for anyone at midlife asking themselves: “Is this all there is?”