Being the Captain

There is a teaching in Universal Kabbalah around Victory. It is the opposing virtue of Splendor. And the two are located at our hips.

Hmmmmmm… Victory and Splendor. Victory over what?

Some would call it evil, or anything created by you or another that messes with your splendor, your glory!

Then there is a declaration: “I am the Captain of my ship!”, affirming that all evil has “no place here!”

I am the captain of my ship! Inner and outer.

As a real-life boat captain, I have always loved this. I think about it when I’m at the wheel of Blue Star, my sailboat. With my ex, I sailed her to Alaska, in some appalling wind, rain, and chaotic currents and waves, to Haida Gwaii, and down the outer coast of Vancouver Island, where the bow came up over countless bottomless waves and flopped her belly down hard over and over. Crash!

Or in being jostled in untamed seas around the Brooks Peninsula, we put up the sails and gave Blue Star the sail of her life! Like a team of racehorses going for the win! She settled into those waves like a fulfilled purpose.

And I’ve come around a corner in a narrow inlet and had a close encounter with a tug towing a huge tow of logs.

I’ve heard that a tugboat captain’s life is 95% boredom and 5% terror! I’m sure I added to the 5% that day!

Being a captain of anything requires your best efforts at staying attentive and maneuvering in tight situations. A tug with logs can’t maneuver… That was up to me! You better believe I figured it out, tight space or not. This is a continuing metaphor for responding to life. Something breaks, it gets fixed. Someone falls overboard, I gather them up. They must have a life jacket before we leave the dock.

You don’t get your captain papers without experience and training.

I’ve had plenty of goof-ups. Going aground when the tide was going out. Going across the wake of a huge ship with hatches open and burying the bow. You just have to deal. Nearly running into a sleeping humpback whale.

The ex once belly-flopped on a telephone pole and chopped the thing in half! No damage to the boat! Luckily it was water-logged.

Wearing the captain’s hat doesn’t mean I am perfect, but adventuring on the sea is its own spiritual practice. Most days are blissful and mellow, with a good dose of intuition and constant vigilance. A huge gratitude for the glories of the elements, the fresh breezes, the beautiful skies, and the ocean. The whales!

On a good day, we are going about double a fast walk and the marine highway is vastly wide. You usually have lots of time to respond to a passing ferry boat, or to avoid hitting a log.

Docking Blue Star always elicits a “calling upon” to the docking angels. Since I’ve known I could do that, my docking has gotten ever so much better! Docking must address a convergence of wind gusts, surprise currents and limited visibility, incompatible cleat placement on the dock. Prop wash which means when I throw her into reverse to slow her down, the stern is pulled to the port, either towards or away from the dock.

Docking a boat is not like parking a car! All the mix of forces is unique and variable in the moment for each docking experience. The docking angels, bless them, know how to bring all relevant forces including the captain into synch which makes docking a breeze!

So when I read “I am the Captain of my ship”, I know what that means in real-time and on a real boat. Overcoming the obstacles at sea helps me know I can overcome other obstacles to be the Captain of my life.

For most of the blessed time with Blue Star, I have been on an exceptional spiritual path which has shown me how to be that captain.

If you want to discuss how it might work in your life, let’s have tea.