Inspiration

[Gallivanters]

To be truly challenging, a Voyage, like a Life, must rest on a fine foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a restricted traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who ply their boats at sea - "cruising", it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to wanderers who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and if you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

"I've always wanted to sail the South Seas, but I cannot afford to". What these people cannot afford is not to go! They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security". And in this worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it, our lives are gone.

What does a person really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system and we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocracy of the charade.

The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they become caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In Choice. Which shall it be: Bankruptcy in purse, or bankruptcy in life?

Sterling Hayden ~ 1916 - 1986

I just had to share this with everyone. Sterling Hayden was a Rebel American (bit part) actor and appeared in Doctor Strangelove, The Godfather and several other films. He also wrote the books WANDERER and VOYAGE.

No Excuses,

Kirk

[Charlie]

Thanks for the inspiration Kirk:

I must say that 20 years ago when I had precious little money and lots of time my voyage across the Pacific was an adventure. I decided to work so I could by my own boat got married got a mortgage got kids got Milk? Anyway I think that going now will still be an adventure. I'm not about to throw in on the bankrupcy part

[Vasco]

Kirk,

Great post. One small correction. Sterling Hayden was not a "bit part" actor. He went to sea at seventeen and sailed around the world a few times before being lured to Hollywood where he was a leading man in the movies until he turned his back on Hollywood and took to sea again with his children. Very interesting character.

[Sunspot Baby]

I think Hayden wrote the quote after a bitter palimony suit in which he lost much of his wealth, and perhaps his boat. He was not always adverse to money.

He once said: 'There is not enough money in Hollywood to lure me into making another picture with Joan Crawford. And I like money.'

[ssullivan]

Amen! Words to live by. In fact, I live by a self-made (and wife-made up) creed just like that one every day.

Fear, greed and envy keep more people from their dreams than any storm ever could. But... who can blame people? The culture has programmed them to feel that way.

Yeah yeah... I'm a whacko. I know. This is how you start to think when you leave all that behind and you do just what the author/actor above describes.