Have you ever felt like a place completed you as a person?

I hope all my US-based readers had a Happy Thanksgiving! I could not carve out time last week to post a blog entry, and I decided to give myself grace and allow that to be ok. I realize that not everyone had the opportunity to go home to a place that is comforting for them for the Thanksgiving holiday, I consider myself very lucky to have solace in a place like the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Have you ever felt like a place completed you as a person? The Eastern Shore of Maryland has always felt like an additional member of our family, a safe/comforting Aunt that always provided a warm, tight hug making you feel calm even in the most turbulent times. I am very lucky to call it my (second) home of 40 years. Coming home to Maryland is always a reset for me. As I start the drive from New Jersey I can feel myself starting to decompress. By the time I get to Route 301 at the Maryland/Delaware line and the beautiful green farm fields, I am relaxed and smiling at the beauty of the Eastern Shore. It has a special feeling- the natural world is all around you and in abundance, the pace is slower, the people are typically more personable, and everything always connects back to the water.

I grew up down the street from a public landing. My Mom worked nights as a waitress, so Dad would take April and I out on our wooden skiff, Zeke. We really enjoyed those nights. In middle school I started sailing camps at our local yacht club. My friends and I would mostly bake in the summer sun on sunfish out on the Miles River. In college, I taught sailing at Camp Wright- now I helped to move the kids along who were baking in the sun on sunfish and lasers out on the Bay. I was confident and generally fearless out on the water. I knew to respect the water. Sailing always felt like playing with Mother Nature and her power to move the boat and find enjoyment in that symbiotic relationship.

I think the best days to sail are sunny with a light breeze. You get the sun on your face and enough wind to move your boat and make it fun, after all you can’t go anywhere if there is no wind. The breeze hits your face, the water reflects off your sunglasses, and the brackish water splashes on you from hitting the hull of the boat. You must turn the boat to keep the wind in the sail. At times you must be strategic to get to your desired destination and keep the wind in your favor.

I have not personally helmed a sailboat since Camp, but we have taken a few catamaran tours to snorkel or watch the sunset on vacation. We also took a vacation on a catamaran once in Mexico, which was cool! In 2024 though a quote jumped out at me from Etsy and it has helped guide me ever since “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” Thomas S. Monson. There is so much in the world that we can’t control and trying to do so is futile. If you could direct the wind, then sailing wouldn’t be any fun! We can however adjust ourselves- our reactions, our mindset, our coping mechanisms- in doing so, control the things that are within our ability to control.

We received a holiday newsletter last year that beautifully captured this mindset and includes another sailing reference:

Heaving to involves essentially surrendering to the conditions, giving up on making any forward progress until the storm passes. Reportedly, when one performs this maneuver, the boat stops pounding and things become relatively peaceful. The boat bobs on the waves, slowing retreating. The crew can eat, rest, and be restored.

This once again highlights the beauty of doing what you can that is within your control and then letting go and finding hope in letting go. What is something that you need to let go?