016 Why Blog?

My earliest memory and passion was my love of books.  Before I even knew how to read I had books.  I treasured my books.  I still have two of my very first books, “Tell me Cat” and “Farmer Jones”.

And like books, I’ve always believed that life could and should be lived in sections; chapters if you will.  And, at the end of your life, you leave behind a legacy; your ‘book’.

Your ‘book’will have chapters that depict times when things were going very well; you were writing a happy chapter or a successful one. And it will have yet other chapters depicting times when things weren’t going so well. You did what you had to do, you got through it and you concluded that chapter, turned the page and began writing a new chapter.  I believe that we are the authors of our past, our present and our future. 

Like so many others, there have been a lotof chapters in my 50 years of life. I’ve occasionally thought of putting pen to paper and creating an unembellished, physical book, one that gives a snapshot of my ‘chapters of life’. However, during those years, I didn’t believe that the chapters were important ones.   Specifically, I did not think the content or themain character to be anything important or special… Instead, unconsciously, I chose to liveeach chapter and not record the happenings.  I regret that now as I see that I missed the opportunity to honor what I was physically writing.  I missed out on reminiscing on lessons learned, accomplishments and so on. But, life isn’t about regret; it’s about lessons learned and choices.

At the ripe old age of 50, I reflect back and realize that in the past few years, I have turned a corner in life.  I have new perspective.  I have focus. A focus on what ‘really’ matters. I think I finally know who I am and I’m discovering a bit of self-worth!  It’s quite exciting! 

With my perspective comes freedom.  Freedom from societal expectations.  Freedom from being “a sheep” …you know, willing to be told what to do and simply accepting I must do it because those were the expectations and therefore my ‘duty’…  I’m not 

annoyed at myself for having been like this (nor am I going to become a rebel without a cause)…. These were simply ‘previous chapters’.  And no matter your chapter and itscontent, if you learn from it, it was meaningful and should be given value and respect. 

Why start writing now? Well, not so long ago, I was reminiscing about ‘missed chapters’, about experiences and personal growth that has taken place.  I also clearly saw that life was taking yet another turn for me and I needed to chart a new path forward.  I had that moment of clarity when you are able to see your life almost through the eyes of a third and neutral party…it’s difficult to explain, but it’s an amazing and moving experience. I came away from that experience feeling empowered and back in the driver’s seat of my life.  And this time, I’m going to start writing it down.

And here I sit. I haven’t a clue how many chapters I could’ve written ~ but that’s no longer important.  What matters is what lies ahead ?

Who we are….

If you are watching our video’s, you’ll already know this.  But for those who aren’t following our channel, allow me to introduce ourselves.  With me is the love of my life, John and our little fur baby, Maggie. 

You’ll get to know a lot more about us as this blog develops but here is our brief history and the story of what lead us to living ‘our dream’ on the S/V El Sueno, “The Dream”, but I have to tell you right now…. John really is the love of my life…I am one very lucky girl…and I know it.  Our Maggie is adorable, lovable, cuddly (on her terms), opinionated and if any of you are familiar with Westie’s (West Highland Terrier’s) and their “Westie-tude”, you’ll have a pretty good idea of the personality this girl has.  We wouldn’t trade her for the world!!! 

One of John’s greatest dreams was to own a sailboat and to sail ‘around the world’. I don’t know that he actually wants to circumnavigate the world, but certainly, he wants to see a lot of it!  I, being a true Canadian prairie girl had really never even contemplated such a life, but as I listened to his dreams and his previous experiences, I had to admit that it became appealing.

The rest is our story.