Drowning people are quiet.

When something bad happens, do you scan the person's facebook profile for clues? Or search your memory for the last time you saw them and analyze what they said and how they said it and how they appeared? Do you think, I should have noticed something amiss, I should have heard that catch in her voice or picked up on the signs?

The other day I heard an interview on CBC with Mario Vittone who spoke about what drowning really looks like. Despite the popular image of drowning as a person flailing in the water, drowning is actually extremely silent and disastrously unnoticeable. In his blog post, Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning, he outlines that drowning people are instead, exhausted, and therefore, not screaming and also not flailing. Their heads bob silently above and below the water. There have been a number of drownings reported recently and so, I am thankful for this advice as I head down to the pools and lakes and oceans I swim in.

But I'm also thankful because his information is a good reminder that metaphorical drowning is or can be just as silent and unobtrusive. I am going to try and keep my eyes open wider and my ear more attuned to what people around me need me to know. I will be vigilant for drowning that does not look like drowning.

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