Pod goals!

[Merman Andrew]

Hi Mers, need your advice! I am currently trying to get a regular pod together in my local area so I actually have people to swim with when I go down to the pool each week. I know of about 8 mers in my city, 2 of whom are currently overseas. We have a Facebook group that we communicate with each other but every week I invite them no one is either able to come or wants to come, and I end up going either on my own or with just one other mer. It's just not as fun and it's really depressing for me because I'm trying really hard to build the community up here and nothing's happening.

Now a big problem I admit is the pool I go to is a little bit out of the way but this is because they are actually one of the few pools in my city that hasn't outright banned mer swimming! There's nothing really much I can do about this until the bans are lifted, which won't happen anytime soon. Some of the mers are students and some work full time and have stuff on all the time including some weekends which is when I try to arrange the meetups. I've tried really hard to be flexible and even offer lifts to people and so on. I just don't know what else to try!

So my question is this: What do you find works to A) grow your pod and B) help to ensure that regular meetups occur?

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[IllynReaver]

Don't get discouraged, life happens. Even when people want to meetup, things come up. Just keep doing what you're doing, keep inviting people to the meetings. Growing your own pod takes time, it's easy to get frustrated and discouraged.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Same here. Its best to just go alone and enjoy yourself. I know everyone has work, family, school etc so I don't expect show ups at the pool. If you get stuck over how people can't go, you can never have fun. And isn't mermaiding all about having fun? Even by myself, I still have lots of fun. I imagine myself chasing fish, exploring Pirate Cove (deep end of swimming pool), just use your imagination!

[Merman Andrew]

Same here. Its best to just go alone and enjoy yourself. I know everyone has work, family, school etc so I don't expect show ups at the pool. If you get stuck over how people can't go, you can never have fun. And isn't mermaiding all about having fun? Even by myself, I still have lots of fun. I imagine myself chasing fish, exploring Pirate Cove (deep end of swimming pool), just use your imagination!
Yea thats true and I am learning now to enjoy it much more even when Im on my own. I just like to swim around and test my abilities - how long can I swim underwater while doing large circles of the wave pool? How fast can I mer backstroke? How many meters can I swim underwater on one breath? I sometimes even imagine I'm an athlete training for an imaginary merlympics, wondering what events there would be and how I'd really train for them if it was a thing!

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[Mermaid Jaffa]

And I go diving for money...

Especially when the swimmer is wearing those loose flimsy shorts! I once found $5 adrift at the bottom of the pool!

[Merman Andrew]

And I go diving for money...

Especially when the swimmer is wearing those loose flimsy shorts! I once found $5 adrift at the bottom of the pool!
I once was a saviour to a swimmer who had lost their goggles, she told me she had lost them and asked me to help find them, which I happily did in my tail, when I finally found them I felt extremely proud, it was like a scene directly out of H2o/Mako Mermaids!

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[Mermaid Jaffa]

I've also rescued a towel for a snorkel swimmer. Why he didn't dive down himself is beyond me. Maybe he had things in his ears?
Another time, I searched the bottom for a wedding ring.

*sigh* The things you do as a mermaid!

[Mermaid Alea]

I keep feeling bad because I am invited by a local merman to go swimming but the days he goes always end up being a day I can't make it, and it seems that the same goes for him when I invite him to swim. :( I really want to swim with another mer!

The sooner you can let local mers know of a meet up, the better. Give them lots of time to fit it into their busy schedule and when it gets closer to the date of the event, remind everyone that it is fast approaching. People get busy and can easily forget things (at least speaking for myself) so it helps to remind them.

I don't know if you have met the other mers in person yet, but I really liked how I met the merman that lives near me on campus and we talked a while before I had to go to class. It was great meeting him in person that way because it made me feel more comfortable driving to some place to swim with him. So maybe you could start small by getting all the mers to meet up for lunch or dinner someplace close by. You can then all talk about mer stuff and get to know each other more and discuss meeting up for a swim. I think meeting in person this way might make people more willing to make time for a meetup, but that is just my thought. ;)

[Hydro Aqualarin]

I wish I can help you out. I want to start my own pod some day my self. It is hard to get groups together and make them work for a wile I had a pagan group that lasted 5 years but when people fight in the group things fall apart. I am happy to see that you really want to make the merfolk community grow hell ya! Can I add you as a merfolk friend on here.