“When you set about any action, remind yourself of what
nature the action is. If you are going to bathe, represent to yourself the
incidents usual in the bath – some persons pouring out, others pushing in,
others scolding, others pilfering. And
thus you will safely go about this action if you say to yourself, ‘I will now
go to bathe and keep my own will in harmony with nature.’ And so with regard to
every other action.” -Epictetus, “The
Enchiridion”
I cannot think of better advice for anyone considering a
voyage on a cargo ship than that of Epictetus.
Go about it with your eyes open, knowing that a cargo ship is not
designed for the comfort or entertainment of passengers. Knowing that you will
not be tuned in to your regular daily influx of news and emails. Knowing that you will be living in close
quarters with a number of complete strangers, some of whom you might dislike. Knowing that your mind may
behave in strange ways. And knowing that
you will be dealing with a lot more uncertainty than many of us are used to.
But if you go into the venture with open eyes and knowing
what the nature of the voyage is, you are more likely to enjoy -- to revel in! -- the delightfully unique experience it offers: the languid afternoons sitting on
the deck, watching the never-ending horizon tilt as the ship gently rolls...seeing sunrises
and sunsets like you’ve never seen before...seeing the Milky Way so close it feels as though you could reach out and touch it...pulling into foreign ports and
watching port operations from about as inside as you can get...and having the opportunity to read, write, and
think in ways you had probably forgotten exist.
In our case, we’re totally glad we did it. Not only did we thoroughly enjoy the journey, but we
both got a lot done. Ellen had some
really focused writing time such as she rarely gets in our normal lives, and I finished a lot of things I had been wanting to read, write, and think about. At this point we’re both glad to have gotten off and moved on with our lives, but we'll also both be glad for the rest of our lives that we did it.
"Yes, as everyone knows,
meditation and water are wedded forever."
meditation and water are wedded forever."
-Herman Melville, "Moby Dick"
Rick, thank you for sharing your experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my vicarious journey. I dreamed of doing this in my youth. Who knows, maybe I can convince Kaptain Karl to give it a go.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rick. This was great to read as we head out on the same journey next week. We'll see how wise it is to do the trip in March!
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