View of San Francisco from the Stern of Sky High – Catalina 350

The last year has taught me quite a bit about navigating a meaningful life. In a previous post, marine dreams, I shared the story of how we came to live on a boat on the San Francisco Bay. Greg is expert at nurturing dreams and holding fast to the intention that seems to manifest them. The choice to live on a boat started out as a social experiment, a convenient option to forestall buying a house in a high realty market. Over the last year it has become a lifestyle sprung from the daydreams of childhood. It feels like I live in a luxury treehouse (another of our daydreams) with my best friend. Close quarters presses us to resolve conflicts quickly and appreciate the feeling of being in harmony, with a sudden intolerance of being out of sorts with each other. Choosing to live a retirement lifestyle while still working has emboldened us to do what we enjoy as part of our daily life rather than “waiting for” a vacation or retirement on the horizon. The exhilarating part of this is the changes that open to us. Rather than ignore my annual retirement evaluation email when school started this year (assuming that it would be so small that I would have to work until I’m in my 70’s) I scheduled a meeting and was stunned by the reality of a generous pension within 3-4 years. I am writing and drawing on a regular basis imagining my next career as author-illustrator. Greg decided to study and work for his Skipper’s License, spending evenings studying sailing manuals and weekends taking tests and lessons, some days exhausted by the physical demands of challenging trainings at sea. It is exciting to watch each other, imagine ourselves, set sail in new directions.