A Good Captain
Angela Mavredis
A good Captain is not born, nor taught because a good Captain is revealed over time. She is tried, tested over and over again. She is beaten by the waves time and time again until humility and respect for the Sea rises to the surface. A good Captain knows the strength of her vessel and her vessel must be tested with her to measure its endurance; to refine, to redesign and test again.
Together the Captain and her vessel are one.
We are born Captains of our vessels but our journey is long before we become a Good Captain. We begin our life in water, we are water and we come into this world with the great vastness of unknown just like the first explorers of the sea, excited to discover.
We chart out our course to reach our destination but life as the sea, ever changing, volatile and alive has a different course mapped out for us. A Good Captain knows to use the elements to work for her. She uses the power and energy of the wind to propel her forward. A Good Captain knows that a storm can break her vessel unless she takes the wave just right. A Good Captain has tested her vessel before and knows how much it can endure. A Good Captain knows to correct course when the elements are no longer working for her.
In this process of storms and correcting course, a Good Captain has been revealed. Her vessel while weathered has been tested and while beaten, sails torn and paint peeled back, hull cracked dare I say broken in some parts, her beauty is brighter than ever as the sun beats down on her. A Good Captain is grateful for the storms because they have taught her much. A Good Captain is grateful for the calm for it has taught her much. A Good Captain is grateful for the expansiveness of the sea for the unknown excites her what teachings are to come. As this year ends and a new journey awaits wish for storms, calms, turbulent waters and high winds for a Good Captain will emerge.
"We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest.
We must learn to sail in high winds."
Aristotle Onassis