Three small wooden vessels bobbed in the museum ‘harbour’ at the seaside town in southern Spain from where Columbus’ first expedition set sail. The quest: to find a way a-r-o-u-n-d the world while discovering new lands and riches. Replicas of ‘The Nina‘, ‘The Pinta‘ and ‘The Santa Maria‘ sat on the water in underwhelming frailty that starkly contradicted the magnitude of the venture: a pre-modern equivalent of sending someone to the moon. It had required years of planning, multi-national collaboration, coordinated knowledge and expertise from shipbuilders, map-makers, seasoned sailors, government sponsors, and competent leaders. After that, it was down to instinct and best guesses for timing the launch of that perilous journey.

Though I am deeply anguished by the human tragedy that unfolded with the discovery of the Americas, it blows my circuits that this outrageous initiative – three specks of enterprising audacity on a vast, vast ocean – changed everything. 

We wandered through those tiny capsules of human ambition, trying to fathom the realities of such a voyage. As adults and children buzzed around enthusiastically, exploring above and below decks in the floating museum, I looked up, and time sort of melted. A rumpled looking dad was sitting on the sunny upper deck at the stern of the main ship, holding his small daughter in front of him as the ship rocked in the stiff breeze. Maybe he was just sleepy from a bad night with restless kids, but I had the sense that he had found something essential. By yielding to the water’s movement instead of countering it to stay upright like the rest of us, he was accessing a sense of the journey that others were missing in their frenzy to see everything. He could feel the ship. I also realized that, despite the obvious toddler hazards of open decks and choppy waves, his child was safe and content in his arms. The scene lasted an instant but has stayed with me, reminding me to breathe, to cease striving and rest on the waves.

Distant horizons can be so intoxicating, but lately I’m more intrigued by the adventure of being where I am. Resting as your ‘ship’ is tossed about on life’s ocean, reconciling ambition and risk with quietness and contentment, is no small quest.

Andrea, July 2019

Photo by Katherine McCormack on Unsplash

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