C_Simonds
03-24-2018, 01:44 AM
Hi everyone, new member here! Longtime admirer (even occasional lurker), finally decided to make the plunge ;) My name's Courtney, I don't have a mermaid name because I don't intend on becoming a performing mermaid -- my situation doesn't allow. I know many of us have chronic illnesses and I'm of that group; I have a rare genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and many comorbidities. My partner of almost 12 years is disabled with severe complex PTSD and bipolar, both of which were triggered by Iraq where they were a soldier with the Army. I take care of them full time (they are non binary, biologically male) and our two kids and myself and everything else! So, I have neither the time nor the capability physically or otherwise to travel and do it for a living, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it as a hobby :) And I can live vicariously through some of you lovely folks.
I've been a mermaid for as long as I can remember. I'd sit at the bottom of the pool with my flippers and my goggles on and watch the shadow of my long hair flow around me and pretend. It was a wonderful escape from a rough childhood. When I was about 17 (this was around 2001...oh, my age is showing haha) I discovered single-use underwater cameras still developed with film, and that was the end of it. I've been a photographer and occasional model since my late teens. (No success with either, just to keep me sane) I did some underwater modeling with a selfmade fabric tail with no monofin in like...2009-2010 before I'd even heard of mermaid as a profession. (I even posted a video on Youtube which inexplicably got like a million views and I have no idea how that happened. Maybe I circulated through one of those evil make-fun-of-people websites or something. Whatever.) Life happened, and I've finally been stable the last two years to start planning on making my own silicone tail. Which I am deep in the process of, but I'm doing it from scratch and my own way, because that's just how I roll xD Who knows if it will even work. I have no idea where I'm going with it, but I just want to follow my heart. It's a coping mechanism really. With my broken body degenerating into constant pain and uselessness, I feel very much like the little mermaid wanting to throw myself into the sea and melt into the waves. The water helps me forget for a little while.
I am getting very serious about my underwater photography though -- it's too bad I live in a radioactive desert hours away from any beach or freshwater body of water worth swimming in, without the capability of traveling. So I'm working on that. But if anyone is traveling through Eastern Washington (state) and wants to collab I'm all for trying to figure it out! Hopefully some day I'll be able to move closer to a place that is more friendly to underwater work. I don't know how to post images so I can't provide examples. Maybe I'll figure it out.
Anyway if you got through that wall of text, thanks! And hi again! I don't know how active I'll be (I'm a noob so I probably won't have much to add to most discussions) but I recognize a lot of names on here and you may recognize me from stalking your IG or your FB pages haha.
I've been a mermaid for as long as I can remember. I'd sit at the bottom of the pool with my flippers and my goggles on and watch the shadow of my long hair flow around me and pretend. It was a wonderful escape from a rough childhood. When I was about 17 (this was around 2001...oh, my age is showing haha) I discovered single-use underwater cameras still developed with film, and that was the end of it. I've been a photographer and occasional model since my late teens. (No success with either, just to keep me sane) I did some underwater modeling with a selfmade fabric tail with no monofin in like...2009-2010 before I'd even heard of mermaid as a profession. (I even posted a video on Youtube which inexplicably got like a million views and I have no idea how that happened. Maybe I circulated through one of those evil make-fun-of-people websites or something. Whatever.) Life happened, and I've finally been stable the last two years to start planning on making my own silicone tail. Which I am deep in the process of, but I'm doing it from scratch and my own way, because that's just how I roll xD Who knows if it will even work. I have no idea where I'm going with it, but I just want to follow my heart. It's a coping mechanism really. With my broken body degenerating into constant pain and uselessness, I feel very much like the little mermaid wanting to throw myself into the sea and melt into the waves. The water helps me forget for a little while.
I am getting very serious about my underwater photography though -- it's too bad I live in a radioactive desert hours away from any beach or freshwater body of water worth swimming in, without the capability of traveling. So I'm working on that. But if anyone is traveling through Eastern Washington (state) and wants to collab I'm all for trying to figure it out! Hopefully some day I'll be able to move closer to a place that is more friendly to underwater work. I don't know how to post images so I can't provide examples. Maybe I'll figure it out.
Anyway if you got through that wall of text, thanks! And hi again! I don't know how active I'll be (I'm a noob so I probably won't have much to add to most discussions) but I recognize a lot of names on here and you may recognize me from stalking your IG or your FB pages haha.