Escapism: Perhaps Not the Most Practical Word

[Kathee]

I am too 55, and nearly divorced. Thought my life was on autopilot with mortgage, job, then laid off, husband became distant, hostile; but my sons don't have wives yet or kids--and I really think this is the right time for me to learn to sail and find a new life. Don't know if I want to liveaboard yet, but it certainly is something to look at...

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by Kathee

I am too 55, and nearly divorced. Thought my life was on autopilot with mortgage, job, then laid off, husband became distant, hostile; but my sons don't have wives yet or kids--and I really think this is the right time for me to learn to sail and find a new life. Don't know if I want to liveaboard yet, but it certainly is something to look at...

Welcome aboard. Gotta be tough being in Michigan these days.

The sailing life can be good therapy.

[Kathee]

Yes, especially for the arts. I did art center marketing and loved it, but the arts are the first to go... I like the therapy idea!

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Kathee

In the old days people used to go backpacking across Europe for a year after the got out of school... Maybe this is just the same, and you will come back with all this experience in different countries and a reality check as well... You will have a whole new idea about what kind of law you want to practice, too! Go for it!

Best line yet - "Maybe this is just the same, and you will come back with all this experience in different countries and a reality check as well..."
Life in North America and to some extent also in Europe is skewed towards a fantasy of consumerism as the reason for existence. Getting out of that environment and into the world that the "other 5/6ths" of the world lives in can be a real eye-opener. Value systems and ethics are radically different. Survival - meaning food, shelter and purpose of life and family are the normal everyday concerns instead of what the latest fashions, footwear, and food fads are that dominate the fantasy life in the big 1st world societies.
- - If for no other reason, if you can swing it, getting out of the "asylum" and into the "normal" world can really reset your basic value structures. With living outside the "asylum" you will gain a knowledge and perspective on what is really important in your life and how to go about getting it. What is that old 60's manta - "Reality is for those who cannot afford drugs." Well, the drugs of vapid consumerism and community destroying paranoia can surely bled all the life energy out of a person. Getting out (kicking the habit) while you still are alive and able is a good idea.

[rossir]

osirissail - If you remember the 60's, you weren't there!

Actually, I like where this thread is going. From what I have seen in scanning a variety of cruising blogs, they all seem to have a sense of adventure, a spirit of exploration, as a common thread. I can think of no better way to approach this voyage of life, and if cruising itself brings it into focus, then sign me up!

Escape is not in and of itself a bad thing - surely if what you are escaping from is the prison of your own monotony. But cruising seems to offer so much more than casting off and leaving somewhere, so much more than simply going to see the sights somewhere else.

There is also GOING TOWARD. There is the new adventure that lies ahead - both in finding a rhythm with the natural world, and engaging with the people you meet along the way.

[Kathee]

I have already traveled the world the conventional way, and I do miss the meeting people, discovering how small the world really is, meeting those who admire us in the US so much, etc. I miss being part of the world. My husband has become a real recluse at 75 and I crave "real life." The food, the people, seeing the sites...the companionship.

[rossir]

Kathee - I see you are , like me, someone who's feet are still dry. I am curious how you see your background and passion, as an artist, being enhanced by a cruising lifestyle. I think that could a be a really cool blend.

[Kathee]

I am a printmaker, but have made sure to learn more portable kinds of printmaking like wood engraving. So I can work small, on a table, and print them later... or work from photos. There are so many printmaking methods to use to present an image in just the right way: etching, lithography, lino cuts, and choosing the right one for both the image and the time is always fun. I also paint in oil.

I also have a particular kind of personality that would work with sailing--very social and communicative, yet no trouble with being alone for periods of time. Never bored, always lots to do... always studying something.

[rossir]

Art is universal. I would think that wherever you go, you would be fascinated, and you would be able to engage another culture in a creative way.

I would think there might also be opportunities to create, say, an artists co-op in lesser developed countries, then market the art or crafts to the good old consumerUSA. I'm just sayin...

[osirissail]

Here is a website of a friend of mine who is a water-color artist and a full time cruiser. Welcome to www.terijones.com
- - She sails each season around the Caribbean from the Virgins to Grenada to Venezuela and then the A.B.C.'s and finally back to the Virgins where her paintings are shown in a very nice gallery. She is back in St Thomas each year during the cruise boat season Jan to May to help in the Art Gallery. Along the way she gives painting lessons to others and to women cruisers interested in art.
- - Cruising gives unlimited opportunities for subject materials for your craft. But you will not get rich on it unless you are amongst the very minute percentage of seriously great artists.
- - As to other "arts and crafts" - you would be competing with that "lesser developed country" - China - so any monetary rewards will be extremely limited. But to share your skills and inspire locals to express themselves artistically is reward enough. The very young and not so very young all are quite hungry for learning art and being able to express themselves in a new way. Getting to work with them one on one usually ends up with some serious fulfilling experiences for yourself.

[Blue Stocking]

Kathee,

I feel your pain! Have those same aches myself.
Interesting (appropriate?) that you chose autopilot as the term which you thought best described your comfort track.
Using it in a philosophical sense, we feed in the destination waypoints, then sit back and let the vessel take us there.
We hope there are no uncharted obstructions on the chosen course, all the time keeping in mind that large print caution in the first page of the manual.
You know, the one that says " The use of this device does not absolve the operator from keeping a good lookout for difficulties ahead ".
Lifes like that, you are a little bit richer, and hopefully thankful, for the positive miles you travel without incident, the experience being used in making assessments for the future.
A friend once told me that there are two kinds of people in the world, the artists, and the scientists.
The scientists have to pull apart, analyse, and know how everything works, and often miss the intrinsic beauty of their subject.
The artists created the beauty the scientists overlook.
After 65 years of being in the scientist camp, I am just starting to realise what I have missed along the way.
Art and music are the transport vehicles for the positive emotion of life.
You have a headstart , don't stop now.