 About five years ago, my friend Jude and I were sitting on my couch with a very large glass of wine, discussing the idea of trying something fun and new in the form of synchronised swimming. So we hit the pool and we were totally out of our depths, literally. I mean synchronised swimming is actually Olympic sport and we were not athletes. So we had a rethink and we relocated to the kids pool and we embraced our inner water ballerina and lo and behold, the wet-hot beauties were born. So what started off as a small group of friends has morphed into this thriving contemporary water ballet troupe. We are a pretty eclectic lot. We are made up of, you know, the young, cool 20-somethings. We're made up of stay-at-home mums and urban professionals. I think we've got a grandma or two and we've got some very brave men. None of us have ever tried this before and one woman can't even swim. It's really amazing. So through this journey of creating this water ballet community, there's been so much joy. So much joy. A lot of it has been spontaneous, of course, as joy is. But I worked out that we created a lot of joy. So I was interested in taking these principles of creating joy and putting them into my own life to see if I could make it better. And you know what? I did and I can. It is so much better. And one of the most powerful ones is one of the most simple ones. Just do it. Just dive in there and get it done. You can be a dreamer. You can be a talker. But if you're not a doer, it's not going to happen. And once you get up and do it, it's really important that you make it your own. When I hit the pool and I tried to be Esther Williams, it felt a little bit hollow. But once I started splashing around as Pip Hall, well then it really started coming alive. I added some kind of sassy moves, a bit of irony. And that was amazing. It really started to resonate when I made it my own. So that was an important lesson in principle. For me, you can have joy on your own, but who are you going to give your fist pump to, your little happy dance? Joy is incredibly infectious. And I, my personal thing is that you want to share this joy. So do it in groups. Our troupe has actually grown exponentially every season because people see how fun it is and they want to do it. I used to think that I was a really great dancer until I looked at the video. In my mind, I am the world's best water ballerina, but you know what? I'm not. And it doesn't even matter. You can do things that you're not good at and still enjoy it. As you can see here, we're all out of time. And that's okay. And that's part of the charm. Actually, if we were really perfect, we'd be pretty naff. So yeah, try and get rid of your self-censor. It's really hard. Remember, it is the journey as much as the destination. Try and be in the moment. Try and enjoy every step because who knows, you might end up going somewhere else. What I've really appreciated about forming this company with my friend is that our primary goal was to create joy. But actually, there's been some profound outcomes that we never predicted would happen. First of all, we made friends, of course, but we also created a community, and that's pretty special. Somewhere we could belong, somewhere we can express ourselves in a fun and out-of-the-box kind of way, and it's been a real journey of belonging. That's really important. For me, it's been totally empowering. I've busted through personal barriers. I've worked together with friends on a common goal. I've been able to express myself artistically and creatively. I've had the courage to come out in public in my togs, and it's been this amazing pleasure sharing a changing room with 66 other women of all ages and shapes and being able to celebrate our unique female form. For me personally, I have found... This has been a way to refine myself to find my place in the world. You know, I'm lots of labels. I'm a mum. I'm a writer. I'm a wife. I'm a middle-aged woman, and I live in this world where youth and the wrinkle-free is the currency, and I'm like, where do I fit? Where do I fit? By creating this group, not only have I found somewhere to fit, and the best bit is that I made it. Ultimately, the wet-hot beauties has been a real haven. It's been somewhere that we can forget about the humdrum of daily life. For some, it's been a real time of healing. There was a really special moment where at the end of one of our shows, a lady came up to me and said, thank you, I've been through two miscarriages and a marriage break-up, and this is the only thing that's made me smile. So this has been a place where we can get back up up on our feet and fly. I am a really passionate advocator for active living, for maximising our life experiences. And I know if we go out and create more joy in our lives, it's going to be so much better for everyone. So please, please, finish your glass of wine, get up off the couch and chase your bliss because if you do, the sky is truly the limit.