Running away to sea
I’ve been thinking about my incredibly strong urge to up and leave. Ever since Matt reintroduced “The Dream” into our lives a few weeks ago, I’ve been so excited that I feel like I have ants in my pants. Sometimes I get so full of the compulsion to GO NOW that I want to find a skipping rope and do 100 or 200 fast skips to discharge the excess energy. I can feel it brimming out of me. I can’t remember the last time anything fired me up so much.
But our lives here are so content, so stable, so full of everything that we’re supposed to want, that I know we’re going to face some serious lack of comprehension when we go public with our plans. So, in no particular order, here are my 10 top reasons for wanting to grab my family and run away to sea.
- Everything on board “has to work for everyone”. I can’t think of a better family mantra.
- We get to hang out as family, all the time (sometimes I think that will be a good point for NOT going!)
- Matt and I are a good team, and we work best when aiming for a common goal (what couple doesn’t?)
- I love the sound of the cruising community. I have a strong need to belong.
- I love the anti-consumerism ethos; the idea of “stuff” as the enemy.
- I’m happy being in and around Nature.
- I get a buzz out of the idea of living self-sufficiently and resourcefully, the need to use our creativity and ingenuity.
- I hope it will slow life right down.
- I get excited about challenges and adventures – approached with caution and courage.
- Since my health overhaul (Feb 2016) my life has both expanded and sped up. It has blossomed into spectacular technicolour. I feel the need to seize every chance to fully inhabit my life, to make it matter, to make every bit of it count.
I feel almost panicky that something might happen to stop us going. I pray that we encounter no health problems to stop us going, because anything else, surely is surmountable.
I really, really can’t wait.
Great pic from the cartoonist Sarah Steenland – love her work!