From my Lamu House (see the Lamu post!) room balcony, I watched this man dumping water out of his boat – bucket, by bucket, by bucket. It was early morning and it seemed like it was taking him forever – the old fashioned laborious way.
Several thoughts ran through my head. Wouldn’t life be easier if he had a pump — zip and it’s done! I wondered if he got bored, tired, fed up with what appeared to me as a tedious effort. But then, maybe it would deprive him of an important, connecting ritual. Maybe he was just doing what needed to be done. Period.
Then, his actions spoke to me in a different way. And I thought about the symbolism that was before me.
Are our boats seaworthy? Do we have buckets of negative thinking or feelings that can weigh us down day in, day out?
Sure, we all do.
What if you were to dump overboard whatever it is that doesn’t serve you? Make a date, just you and the boat.
It might take a little time – but what a great ritual – bucket, by bucket, by bucket.
Happy sailing!
