I’m a big believer in signs. I began seeing hearts everywhere last year- 2014. And since hearts are a symbol of love, I took it to mean that this was the year for love. I thought that 2014 I would have a lasting relationship, meet a new love or something big was going to happen. A lot did happened; I pried my heart open, I fell in love once maybe twice, I fell flat on my face a few times, I opened my heart to new possibilities, and my heart broke, my voice dwindled and my soul darkened a bit. I felt confused and foggy. My intuition is strong but I couldn’t see what the signs meant. I kept seeing signs and I kept seeing hearts. In the beginning of 2014 I received a book called “Journey to the Heart: Daily Meditations” by Melody Beattie. I read this book day after day, the daily meditations that told me to trust my heart, to trust my journey, to love myself, to love everyone around me and love the journey. I kept moving forward. I was thankful for the book, my amazing family, supportive friends, strangers that showed me love and meditations that I had learned at Boulder Psychic Institute. I knew that whatever happened this last year was meant to happen. I released control (yet again), realized that I’m not sure I want to fall in love- more find great love (once again), to trust my intuition even if I don’t know the meaning (again and again) and continue to go with the flow (always and again). I learned to look at those dark shadowy parts of myself, to heal the ones I no longer wanted to keep and love the ones I did. The hearts were leading me to heal my heart, to follow my dreams and to discover more who I am.
It was a good year; I saw many of the people that I love
that I hadn’t seen in a few years and spent time with a lot of people I love. I went to 4 amazing weddings and shared in their
love. I traveled to new and old
places. I fulfilled at least two childhood
dreams. The first was going to Tenerife
in the Canary Islands and saw the great opera house in Santa Cruz. And, the second, I am embarking on a journey
of one of my biggest childhood dreams… learning to sail.
The sailing dream started in 5th grade when our class watched a
program called “Voyage of the Mimi”. It
starred a cute boy (Ben Affleck) who was sent to live with his grandfather on a
boat, learn to sail and find whales. It
was a half hour show; the first half of the program was a fictional story about
a boy on a ship and the other half they would explain the scientific and mathematics
that were used. I loved watching the
show, I would day dream that it was me learning to sail. It looked like adventure, learning, freedom and nature. Someday I would learn to sail.
So, while I was in Tenerife meeting my friend Jenny, who was
getting her day skipper’s license, we decided that in December we
would meet in the Caribbean and sail. We
both needed to heal our hearts, free our spirits, and have an adventure on the
open seas.
My voyage began in St Lucia.
The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) started in Gran Canaria (in the Canary
Islands) and ended in St Lucia. Jenny
planned to meet me there and we’d find a boat.
Kala, who was my dive instructor and best friend in Roatan, decided to
come to St Lucia as well since her uncle was doing the Rally and her aunt was
meeting him there after the race. Then
my parents decided that they wanted to spend Christmas in paradise too.
 |
| Kala, me and Jenny |
Things don’t always go to plan, but they always happen the
way they are supposed to. After landing
Kala and I found Jenny who had flown in a day before us from the Morroco, had at
the last minute found a position on a delivery boat back on the other side of
the Atlantic in Cape Verde. One of the
captains of a boat from the ARC had gotten sick and now needed his boat to be
delivered to St Maarten. After only 2
days, Jenny flew back to the other side of the world and Kala and I discovered “Helen
of the West Indies”.
We went diving, which is one of the things we do best, with
a great diving company called Dive Fair Helen.
There were the biggest schools of fish, 3 seahorses on a dive and we saw
the elusive frog fish. We flirted, one of
the other things we do best, with cute sailors and met Danes, Swedes, Norwegians,
Finns, Brits, Russians and Canadians.
And we explored 10 beaches, some off the beaten path (what we do best)
and some crowded beaches. St Lucia has been paradise. The most “gorg” beaches I have ever seen.
My parents and their friend Laurie flew in for Christmas
week and we enjoyed mud baths, great food, more beaches and had a ‘smashing’
Christmas with our new English friend Mark.
Mark was staying downstairs from the villa we were renting. He runs a dance school in London http://www.portobellodance.org.uk/
and takes time off each year to St Lucia to refresh. Mark invited me to stay with him after my
parents and Kala left while I wait to go to St Maarten. He’s introduced me to his routines, his
circle of friends, and let me be his beach lady along side his beach man. It’s all so simply “gorg” as he would say and
I am a very lucky beach lady. He
sometimes calls himself “Jackie” as in Jackie O and has a habit of saying “Jackie
did good”, he immediately said to me. We did good, real good and it is nice to remind ourselves that we are doing well. Traveling
isn’t just for me about the places I see, it’s about the people I meet and
connect with and this Jacquie is doing good, "real good".
- it's a honeymooner's paradise
- all beaches, even ones with resorts are open to the public. beach chairs cost $$
- everyone is very friendly
- the locals are always working, after that $$- expensive to live here
- rum punch goes down good, but hurts like hell the next day
- the wind whistles sweet melodies
****There is a dedication in “Journey to the Heart”, it reads: “This
book is dedicated to life and the creator.
I wrote it for people on the path of discovering and trusting their
soul. I hope that people interested in
spiritual growth and those involved in creative endeavors including artists,
writers and healers find it useful.” My
dedication is of the same vein if I can be so bold, to life and that all is connected. I am very thankful and blessed. I hope my travels, thoughts and writing can
inspire you, dear reader, to follow your dreams as well. I take you
with me, in my heart, on my voyages.****
