Sail on Sailor… follow your dream!

I got a text today from a friend who followed her fream and moved to live on the ocean.

She was thinking about all the 4th of July celebrations she has been a part of and this will be the first year she will not be here to do her traditional backyard grilling for the family.

She is a sailor at heart and the ocean and freedom were calling her. You see, she had just turned 50 and felt like there has to be more to life than just getting up and going to work day in and day out! I remember her looking and searching for other ways to live... RV living, dumpster diving to save money, tiny houses, and the list goes on. Her heart and soul wanted for more... wanted for some new experiences. Heavens, don't we all?

I could see and feel her restlessness for years. She wanted more. She felt unsettled, unfulfilled. She was looking for something, she was not sure just what. She had been in a relationship for 16 years and it felt like the same old stuff, different day. There just had to be more.

So one day she went home and told her partner, “I want to sell everything, go live on a boat on the ocean and fish for a living!” The ocean had called the sailor home!

And so off she went. She sold or gave away almost everything. She only took what would fit in her truck and off she went to the ocean.... the powerful, magical ocean that made her feel at peace.

It was been about a year now. A little bit of the excitement has worn off and she has no close friends of her own; she shares the friends of her new love. I think it is starting to set in that home is more than just a location, it is where memories live.

Lifelong friends are priceless, and sure they can come and visit, but it is not the same as "Hey, grab a beer with me Friday night and let's chat." Family, as much as they piss us off on any given day, are still our family and there are years of tradition. Whatever those traditions are, they are memories and have defined a lot of our lives.

Now, starting over on the ocean is new. It’s a different way of life; not good, bad, right, or wrong, just different. Minnesota will always be her home. She will create new traditions with new friends, never forgetting her lifelong friends and all the memories they share.

Family will always be here for her, with their arms wide open waiting for her to come home.

Until that day, sail on sailor! May the sun greet you each day with happiness, may it set each night and bring you peace!