Tomorrow morning I am helping a friend deliver her sailboat to San Diego. I’ve been assisting in the preparation of her boat for a couple weeks and finally the dock lines get thrown off and the sails will go up and the boat will take a left turn out of the Golden Gate.

Another passion of mine besides art, is sailing. I sailed with my father when I was young and started sailing again in my 30s. My father had a dream to sail around the world, he was planning steal a 30 foot sailboat in Southern California. He and a friend drove across the country from Philadelphia to do it. Once he got to Newport Beach he then decided it was probably not a good idea to steal a boat. Instead he flew airplanes. He loved the freedom of the wind, the ocean and the possibilities… Of course life got in the way, especially when he met my beautiful mother.

I remember when I got my first sailboat about 12 years ago, a Newport 30. I took my dad sailing for the first time in years. I don’t ever remember seeing him smile wider and being happier than that day out in the San Francisco Bay. I know it reminded him of his love of sailing. He was a little shy at first when he took the tiller and then it was all over. He felt it once again. The freedom of the wind and the freedom of that very moment in time when there was nothing else in the world except him, the breeze, the current and the sailboat. No where else to be, nothing to think about and nothing to do but to hold the helm and allow.

So my friend is excited to make the big move in her life. She is going to bring her sailboat to Mexico and then maybe sail to Florida. She has worked very hard to make this move and I am very happy for her. It has been stressful (at best) to prep the boat and actually get to the point of casting off dock lines. In fact, several people whom she has never met have come by the boat to congratulate her on making this significant voyage while reminiscing about their own dreams of doing it. I also congratulate her and wish her fair winds and much success.

For me, I have spent the last 10 years preparing to go and I have realized that my friend has giving me an amazing gift. A reminder, that it’s not about the boat, or who you go sailing with or how many plans you make. It’s about just doing it.

When I was working in the corporate world we always used the term, “analysis paralysis”. I think I have had this disease for the last 10 years because I have continuously hit my head against a wall wondering why I wasn’t sailing enough. Instead it was about making money and chasing squirrels.

So here it is, the full circle. I have been a bit stressed helping my friend get ready to go and dealing with my own logistics. Now, at this very minute, sitting here alone on the boat, I realize I am completely about simply sailing. I don’t care when we get to wherever we end up, all I want is to have both hands on the wheel carving out an ocean swell, while feeling the force of the wind, and figuring out how to work with it instead of against it. Isn’t that what life is about? Letting it happen, being in the moment and adjusting your sails?

I guess it’s back to the basics for me. Start with the heart and everything else will follow.

With Love, Robbie Ann