I met a magical mermaid sister today. It’s amazing to me how life brings people together. She is half my age, but from the moment we sat down, I could tell that we were kindred souls, and age did not matter one bit. She joked that she meets people by being “stalker-y”, just because she likes their energy and wants to know them. In some situations people may get freaked out by that kind of thing, but I actually welcome it. I can already count 2 dear friends who have become my friends by being this way with me, and I have countless of my own that I “stalked” because I wanted to know them. Our techniques differ, but I wanted to take a moment and acknowledge that I feel that this “stalker-y” behavior is really just a version of following our intuition and surrounding ourselves with people who inspire or resonate with us. I am a firm believer in surrounding myself with people who lift me up and inspire me. Whether on a deep emotional level, or because they have achieved something I admire, I deeply heed Rumi’s advice: “be with those who help your being”. The more I do this myself, as well as allow others to approach me in this way, the richer my life becomes.

Ever since I did the Singlehanded Transpac, and proclaimed my intention of wanting to support more women in getting on the water, I have been happily inundated with introductions to women who want to learn to sail. It is so exciting to hear of their dreams and goals, and to already see in my mind’s eye that they can achieve them, even before we sail together. Sometimes I think I am even more excited than they are.

I think I probably get more out of our meetings and sails together than they do. To see the light in their faces when they take the helm for the first time, or talk about their dreams of single handing a boat, or talk about getting their own boat one day, fuels me and reminds me of my own dreams. I can be transported back to the moment in 1999 when I singlehanded a keelboat for the first time, and a dream was born…which lead to the moment in 2000 when I decided to do my sailing certifications through US Sailing because I wanted to be a skipper and not just a crew…which lead me to the moment in 2004 when I decided it was time to take my sailing more seriously and buy my 1st boat…which lead me to the moment in 2013 when I bought Haunani and started sailing again after a five year hiatus…which lead me to the most fateful moment of all…when I decided to sail across the ocean alone, even though I had never done anything remotely close to that. We are all weaving a tapestry of dreams and goals, and we all have a hand in supporting each other in achieving them if we allow it. The strategic choosing, and the magical appearance of people in our lives that help us along the way is so wonderful…both from the perspective of supporter and the one being supported.

Today when this young woman was talking to me of her deep connection to Mother Ocean, it almost brought me to tears, and reconnected me with that place in myself that feels at one with the sea. In the end, all of this sharing, and supporting brings me back to our interconnectedness, and my deep belief that we are all here to lift each other up and “ to walk each other home”, as Ram Dass once said. I am so grateful for the tapestry that is made up of beautiful souls with whom I share this precious life!