Tag Archives: Retiring

Notes From the Universe

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A galaxy far, far away.

This Little Cunning Plan is really putting my faith to the test. Not that it hasn’t been tested before. It’s just that at the age I am at now, it seems like time is short to live our dreams, so I feel that sense of urgency; not unlike the feeling I used to get when separated from my babies for too long when I left them with someone else. I’m so irritated at being this old that I forgot how old I was the other day. (Try it. It’s a useful trick.) So the testing I’m going through has this sense of urgency on some days.

Anyhow, back to the Universe, a word which here means God, the great Creator, the Goddess, Holy Father, Unifying Field,  or any number of other monikers people seem to use interchangeably. I generally have a lot of faith in it, whatever it is. And I am practicing waiting patiently, working on enjoying my life as it is, while focusing on how it will be in the future, all at the same time. Sometimes this is a tricky balance, such as when I look around and notice all the work that has to be done around here, or when I get frustrated that our boat hasn’t yet sold. And on those days, I can really use a little encouragement.

That’s where Notes From the Universe comes in. The notes are in the form of little email messages I get daily through a program generated by Mike Dooley, guru of ‘Thoughts Become Things‘. He’s an inspirational speaker, author, and all that, who makes his money doing those speaking and authoring things. His message is simple: that what you think about is what you manifest, what you focus on becomes your reality. It’s a fairly simplistic version of the ‘law of attraction’, pretty ‘New Agey’, not real deep stuff. I’m not particularly recommending his books, as I find them to be a little repetitive and not a lot of substance.  I like more academic works, as a general rule. But I give him a lot of credit for having a clear, unwavering message that is positive and hopeful. He is uplifting to people and that’s all to the good. His ‘Notes’ program, though, I really love.

You sign up with your email address and create a profile that includes your hopes and dreams for the future. The notes are tailored toward that profile. I made mine so long ago that now when I get a note that references ‘blue water voyaging’, it’s a little freaky until I remember that it’s computer generated. Nonetheless, it works. No matter what your goal may be, this little program offers encouragement in a loving way from the Universe. Here’s my message for today:

“Perhaps the greatest of all illusions, Melissa, is that life could somehow be better than it already is. You’ve got it made- The Universe”

How perfect is that? Just last night Mike and I were commenting to each other about how very, very fortunate we’ve been in our lives. Happily married coming up on 30 years, two beautiful children who are successful at life, a nice home, good professions that we’ve enjoyed (even if we’re tired of working) and that have offered a satisfying standard of living. We have so much to be grateful for. And the Universe does a good job of reminding me of that.

If the Universe is intelligent, it understands me better than I do.

Oh, Mexico! I Never Really Been But I Sure Want to Go!

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La Paz. Man, I sure want to go. And stay for a long time. Desert and ocean. Two great things that go great together.

And before anyone emails me about the grammar in that title, those are the actual words from the James Taylor song. And they describe my state of mind just perfectly! For many moons now Mike and I have been dreaming of the day we’d get to go down to the Baja peninsula in Mexico and soak in the local culture, food, water, and warmth. Those days are approaching!

Before people get too excited, we aren’t getting to go down on our boat. No, this is a ‘preliminary’ trip to celebrate or 30th wedding anniversary and look at some boats for sale down south. You can get a lot more for the money down there, we hear.  We’re going to skip Cabo San Lucas completely and go directly to La Paz, otherwise known as ‘La Pause’, in cruising circles because so many cruisers get there and decide to stay awhile. We’re very excited and I’m sure Mike is already anticipating trouble getting me back on the plane to come home. I’m anticipating the same from him, so we’re even. I might have to have my temper tantrum here, before we go, so as to save him some embarrassment.

In that wonderful, synchronistic way that the Universe has, we’ve just discovered some pretty cool bloggers who are living the dream on their boat down Mexico way. Stephan and Lulu Yoder are just far enough ahead of us in this wild plan to be our new role models. I read their blog with stars in my eyes and envy in my heart. They really have the right attitude: sleep when you want to, get up when you want to, go somewhere and stay as long as you feel like it, eat really good food. Basically, leave the whole ‘work ethic thing’ behind, and good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. And they’ve spent much time in La Paz, so they know some great places to stay and to eat. Plus, Mike and Stephan have some career stuff in common, and Lulu is a craftswoman! They are so much like us, they could BE us, except that they are living on their boat in Mexico and we aren’t. Rats. 🙁

We wanted to go down in March, our anniversary month, but, alas, life has worked it out so that we can’t really go that month. We’re shooting for April and hoping the spring break crowd will stay in Cabo. I’m REALLY hoping the whale sharks will hang around until we get there and I can go snorkeling with them. But I’m not holding my breath. I think March is the latest they stay. So look for some awesome posts and photos from Mexico someday soon. And you can pretend we’re sending them from our boat. I know we’ll be pretending the same.

I would SOOOO do this. If they are there, I'm going to be over the moon with excitement.

 

Stay the Course!

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A sunny day at the boat today.

January sucks. I had to get that out of my system. I just hate this month with its long darkness. The sense of urgency I feel to get out of here and into someplace with more sunlight can be simply overwhelming at times, causing sleepless nights, irritability, and thoughts of simply walking out the door, getting on the boat we have, and sailing away. So I frequently have to smack myself into thinking more clearly about The Plan. The smacking happens more easily on days like this: filled with sunshine and being on the boat. It’s cold, but at least down here at the marina we can get the benefit of whatever sun is available this time of year.

We’ve been spending a lot of time looking at boats lately and this has led me down the garden path into thinking that we’re closer to leaving than we actually are. Fantasy is really so much more enjoyable than physical reality.  What we really need to be doing is selling Moonrise. So we’ve begun preparing her for sale. This is kindred to a grieving process since boats, as everyone knows, have consciousness and personality. Moonrise is a steady, supportive boat filled with kindness and a sense of adventure. She is upbeat and sincere, and like a good and faithful dog, always wants to please. We have had many years of good times in this worthy boat and being down here at the marina, working on her to get her ready for sale, gives me time to reflect on these times and to be glad I’ve had them. If it were not for Moonrise, I would not even be considering long distance cruising, and she knows it. Moonrise has shown me that it is completely possible to feel safe and secure while on the water, even in nasty weather.

So first, get Moonrise on the market. Concurrently, we need to prepare to rent out our house. This causes yet more of those feelings of grief. It’s hard for me to leave houses. I left houses all the time as I was growing up, a brat with a military father. So I tend to get rather attached to them, and at the same time I resent this attachment. Probably no one except another kid with an upbringing like mine can understand this pathetic and delicate rapprochement. Our house is filled with sweat equity. Every room bears witness to the countless hours we spent making our house the home it is today.

And I cannot even begin to express my dismay at leaving my garden. I have begun to withdraw from the emotion of it in order to continue to move forward with the plan. The huge pond and waterfall I built with my own hands, my koi, raised from tiny babies and protected lovingly from herons and their ilk. The greenhouse Mike insisted I needed and built for me. The garden walls I built, using my own red cement mixer. The berm in the back, built with the cooperation and help of my many gardening friends. My hundreds of lily bulbs. My thousands of dollars worth of rare plants that no one but me can identify. My 30 or so different types of hydrangeas, many of which cannot replaced.  Who will protect my emerging hostas from slugs? Who will know to go up to the witch hazel and sniff the flowers in the dead of winter? Who will know, when the Himalayan lilies bloom again in about 4 years, that this is a rare and wonderful thing?  How will anyone else appreciate these things, much less care for them? If I think too much about it, I will get a little crazy.

So I prepare to walk away from this, because it’s the only way we can move on to the next part of our lives and not get stuck in the same old rut forever, until we die, old and unfulfilled. My worst nightmare. I’d really like to skip over all of this part and just move on to the boat shopping. I tried that and it worked for awhile. But then I remembered that we already have a boat, and a house, and that I’m supposed to be getting these things ready to be released into the universe. So that I, too, can be released.

View of the S/V Annabelle, an old ferry that someone lives on. It's just so cute!