Today is the one year anniversary of the day Mark and I bought our sailboat and began the process of moving aboard—a life changing shift based on a lifelong dream, though not a dream that was authentically mine. The moment the boat was ours felt simultaneously thrilling and a bit unsettling.
In all honesty, this is a dream of my husband’s. I would not be here if it weren’t for that summer in 1979 when he was invited by his best friend to live aboard their family sailboat, Liahona. When we dated, Mark was transparent about his need to return to the sea. Since then, we’ve spent years in preparation—but getting ready to convert a dream into reality is not the same as the final leap.
So many questions came with this change. Is this what I want? What about my family, my grandkids a million miles back home? And my dearest friendships? But over this past year I’ve discovered nuanced answers to all those questions.
I’ve learned to try your spouse’s dreams and see how you can make them align with your own. My restless need to wander and his love for the sea are symbiotic. A knitting of dreams has created a tapestry more striking than one I could have made just seeking after my own.
I’ve learned sharing dreams with your children turns them chartreuse—illuminating them into something extraordinary. We worked hard as a family to make this happen and watching them come aboard and weave their own threads into it maximizes my joy.
I’ve leaned in to my relationship with my husband, spending every day inhaling nature and working closely together reminds me of when we were first dating—it’s tonic.
I’ve learned that dreams come at a price. If you want them bad enough you’ll sell your beautiful home, drive old cars, and not care if your friends and family think you’ve gone mad.
I’ve learned that the things I spent so much time worrying about, they would get figured out—even if it meant surrendering to an answer that isn’t clear.
So today, I thought I’d celebrate by encouraging other dreamers to dream a little dream. Big or small, it’s possible to realize them or meld them into something new. Either way you’ll be enriched by the reaching.