Tag: sailing

Soul Sunday

Are you passing on love, or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Good morning soulmates! Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at the beach with my husband and my daughter and our two male dogs, who are both natural water dogs. It was a wonderful day for all of us, and my husband pointed out that it is noticeably calmer and more quiet here this morning, than it is most mornings. There was a lot of energy expended at the beach yesterday, which tired us all out, but I also think that being at the beach works like a “reset button”, to balance us back to our own natural rhythms, in sync with the nature all around us.

My regular readers know that Sundays are devoted to poetry here at Adulting – Second Half. On Sundays, I write a poem or I share a poem written by another writer. I strongly encourage you to write a poem today. Share your poem here if you like, or just share with yourself. Poetry is a form of writing which is typically more connected with your emotional side and being. It is hard to write or to read poetry, without getting your heart involved, and we all know that it is good to stretch your heart muscles. Here is my poem for today:

Yesterday was different this time.

The waters were calm. The winds were even.

I looked out into the horizon and I understood,

That it was okay for me to be on my ship,

And for you to be on yours,

Perhaps never to sail together again.

Despite our different journeys,

Despite our different vessels,

Once formed out of the same timber, from the same tree.

As I looked up into the even, placid sky,

And I gazed at the early, brave, bright moon,

It occurred to me that we all share the same starry navigator,

As we take our individual journeys, throughout the waters,

Sometimes rough and stormy,

Other times smooth and clear and calm,

Until it is time to return to the safe port of our heavenly home,

Where only Love resides, and where the Tree of All,

Still stands tall at the endless shore,

Where the planks and the boards all melt back into the Tree,

As if they were never separated from her graceful form,

Holding all of the stories from all of the ships’ adventures,

Soundly and effortlessly, in the wide, sturdy trunk of All That Is.

Sea Legs

“As political opinions are swirling around us like dust devils, we need to stop to distinguish between opinions, beliefs, and our deep knowings.” – Anne Wilson Schaef

We went boating as a family yesterday. We are having a “stay-cation.” It was a wonderful, relaxing day. I even swam within about 8-10 feet of some rather curious, wild dolphins, which is truly an exhilarating experience.

I grew up boating on the three rivers of Pittsburgh. I spent a lot of time on those rivers with our family, driving the boat, water-skiing and relaxing, as we anchored in still waters and fished or just floated, watching other boats pass on by. In Pittsburgh, there we quite a few barges that go up and down the rivers and if you think that a barge looks enormous from the shore, I can’t even begin to describe how intimidating it is to witness a filled-to-the-brim, lumbering barge coming up on you, while you are trying to get a water skier out of the water and then trying to get the flooded engine turning, on a small motorboat. Do you remember that picture of Jaws coming up on the hapless water-skier? It’s just like that picture exactly, except that it is real. And really dangerous.

Boating isn’t all fun and games. Like many activities, there’s a whole lot more to it than there looks, and anyone who has boated for any length of time, has their share of mishap stories, ranging from mild happenings to near-death experiences. While these stories are retrospectively amusing to tell to other people, the events are actually quite terrifying and frustrating and harrowing, when happening in real-time. Sometimes you just sit back and thank your lucky stars, when you look back at your more intense boating excursions.

Yesterday, was actually a smooth sailing day on the water. There was no dangerous weather to race from, no chopped up props, no engine failures, no lost anchors and no drunken crazies to dodge. It was the kind of beautiful, relaxing boating day that keeps those of us who love boating, hooked on it. Other boating excursion days often prove to be a test to your marriage, your wallet, your faith in humanity and in your own sanity, but yesterday, was a boating day made in heaven.

I haven’t boated regularly since I was in my early twenties, until this summer, when we joined the boating club. I am happy to report, that just like bike riding, everything that you learned about boating comes back to you. Though rusty, I am actually pretty proud of my driving prowess, my knowledge of safety concerns, and my overall, sea legs. I also fully respect, how much more that I have to learn, the kind of learning that can only come from experience.

So, all of this backstory finally brings me about to my opening quote. My aunt and I were recently discussing how we both feel that we are at a loss with who to trust, what information to believe, and where we think all of the current problems in the world, are headed. All of the information coming to us, is so convoluted, politicized, emotionally laden, and multi-layered. The above quote was a great reminder for me, to stop and take the time to reflect. Just like boating, I can listen to others’ opinions on navigation and weather, with an eye to how much I actually trust that person’s opinions based on their own experience and their actions. I can also examine my own beliefs which have come about and evolved from my own experiences and influences, and then most importantly, I can listen to my gut inclinations and my inner knowledge. My intuition and my deep knowing is a culmination of everything I have learned and experienced (my outside wisdom that comes from my life experiences) and my faith in myself and my God. That inner voice is quiet and serene, but it never steers me wrong.

The next time that I go boating I will rely on the mix of other people’s opinions (from boat captains whose experience and knowledge and intentions, I trust), my own beliefs about what I need to do, which comes from my own experience on the water, and I will have faith in my gut reactions and unthinking responses to any travails that may come my way. If I stop to really ponder this formula of three, I should have another delightful boating experience under my belt. If I give myself this pause to ponder opinions, beliefs, and deep knowings, in any situation in life, my journey will undoubtedly get me safely, to my destinations, and at the same time, I will enjoy the voyage, all along the way.