Leaving a lasting legacy
We are now entering our 13th day at sea across the Atlantic. The atmosphere on board is good and spirits are still high. But we have started longing for land: to walk on firm ground on the beach or in the street; drinking a good cup of coffee in a café; enjoying the green trees, the flowers. Most of all we long for the feeling of security that land-based creatures have when ashore. It is after all contra-intuitive to be at sea for us humans.
Crossing a big ocean is as much about taking ourselves out of the ordinary everyday to that point of no return where we need to depend on ourselves and each other. It requires mental rigour and physical endurance, and persistence.
We talk a lot about persistence. Also how we can make this life-changing aspect of the journey with Oceans of Hope persist in the years to come – both inside the individual and in specific measures and activities. How can we enforce and amplify the affects and the legacy of Sailing Sclerosis and our project Oceans of Hope in the places we have already visited? And how can we keep the momentum of the project and our values going forward and into new projects in the future?
Every day at three o'clock in the afternoon we meet on deck for an ongoing workshop to facilitate and jointly acknowledge our shared key values of Sailing Sclerosis; what it means to us to be part of Sailing Sclerosis and on board Oceans of Hope; how we can use all the energy generated to leave behind a lasting legacy from Sailing Sclerosis. Everybody participates enthusiastically. We make posters and hang them in the crew mess and continue each day where we left off the day before.
We are full of team spirit and good ideas, and we are looking forward to share it with you all when we reach America. I can, however, already reveal that some of the essential feelings that keep popping up - the experience of recapturing identity and a deep feeling of belonging, worthiness and, of course, hope.