I haven’t written anything for this blog for over five months. My thoughts did not stay still long enough nor were they solid enough for me to be able to express them. I had nothing to say.
Now I do, though not much, nothing particularly significant to say.
I just feel more purpose in my life, a better sense of self. Those simple conditions give rise to wanting to express myself, to put my words out there again.
The sense of purpose has come from my commitment to resume my sailing voyage to the US East Coast, a voyage interrupted and then put on hold as other aspects of life unfolded. This voyage has no grand goal and no great reach. It’s destination is merely a symbolic choice to return to the waters on which I learned to sail. The sense of purpose comes from what is simply required to safely move the boat, myself and its crew from one port to another. The mystery and excitement lie in what will be discovered along the way, big and small.
I find myself getting up earlier, working harder, eating less, being more focused, with calmer temperament. This is a marked change from my state of being over the past few years, during which I often suffered from depression, impatience, procrastination and resistance. I don’t think that resuming the voyage put me in a better way of being. Rather the other way around, that I had to change my way of being to be able to resume the voyage.
This voyage is about moving the boat on a timetable to catch favorable winds and avoid bad weather. Simple, straightforward yet much that is not within my control. I’ll keep the boat in good shape, muster good crew, practice good seamanship and then accept what happens. There is a simple honesty and elegance to life on a boat at sea and I feel at home there. I wonder if I’m escaping from life on land or working on being better at living it?
I am chronicling the progress of the voyage on my sailing blog, Sailing Intermezzo. On this blog I intend to express more of the personal side of the journey and my broader experiences beyond the boat.
I’m writing again.