It is now nearly 80 days since I last looked in a mirror, and it’s probably just as well. It would probably crack. I must be looking like the wild woman of the forest – or more accurately, the wild savage of the seas.
But the great thing is: I really don’t care. It really doesn’t matter. The fish don’t mind (or, if they do, they are too polite to say anything).
We generally live in a very looks-ist world, where we all, no matter how much we try not to, tend to judge on appearances. Well, I do, anyway. It’s hard not to, because when you first meet somebody that is all you have to go on.
So it is tremendously liberating to be at least 1,500 miles from the nearest human eyeballs (assuming for now that the folks on the space station aren’t looking). It’s paradoxical, that although what I am doing out here is so very physical, I am less conscious of myself as a physical being, even when bits of me hurt. I feel almost like pure thought. Even the pain is something being perceived by my mind, rather than something that exists in the relevant part of my body. I can say that “my shoulders hurt”, but it is my mind that is bothered about it, not my shoulders.
Here, more than anywhere else, I understand the notion that our world is a manifestation of our thoughts, that what we think becomes reality. And that if we want to change our world, we have to start by changing our thinking.
Oh heck, how did I get onto this? This is Philosophy-Friday-type stuff. Today’s was meant to be a light-hearted blog about me looking like I’m being dragged through a hedge (or ocean) backwards – which, come to think of it, I am.
Other Stuff:
Just as I was finishing the above, the most almighty wave collided with the cabin wall, about half an inch behind my head, with a deafening din. My adrenaline is still pumping. No damage – it was all talk and no trousers – but bloody hell it was loud. Which reminds me that the waves are due to be even bigger tonight than they were today, so I had best get horizontal asap, as my bunk is by far the safest place to be.
In summary of today, grey and chilly and rough. Rowing across waves no fun at all – a very wet and splashy business. But decent progress made.
Pippa – a big mug of organic miso soup went down very well at the end of a hard day. Thank you for your magnificent shopping expeditions in Perth – very much appreciated.
Quote: “Act as if you were separate from nothing, and no one, and you will heal your world tomorrow.” (from Conversations With God”
Photo: grey skies today.
Sponsored Miles: Cynthia Ford – thank you!