The Power of Possibility

Dreams are possibilities imagined... 
Goals are possibilities sought... 
the Adventure is in striving to make those possibilities real... 
Joy comes from sharing the adventure.

Four years ago, on a beautiful lush summer day in Seattle, surrounded by family and friends and evergreen trees, Glenn and I were married.  That was a possibility I think neither of us had imagined on the summer day eight years earlier when we met in the scuba shop in Friday Harbor, Washington.  I had just gotten a seasonal retail job in the store and Glenn was one of the most avid divers on the island.  He taught scuba courses, acted as divemaster for tourists, volunteered for the sheriff's department search & rescue team, and spearheaded the local scuba diving club.  In other words, he was "Mr. Scuba," and very intimidating.  I was in my 3rd year out of 6 years in college, with maybe 20 dives "under my weightbelt" since I started diving when I was 16.  But, I had just taken an intensive quarter-long field course in zoology and botany at the local marine station, and that seemed to boost my credit as a potential dive buddy.  I knew about stuff.  I was also very comfortable in the water, having been a lifeguard and swimming instructor also since I was 16.

So, I entered into Glenn's circle of friends who were avid divers, and we explored the steep underwater cliffs on the west side of the island together almost every evening after work.  Still, we were just friends... mostly acquaintances with some common strong interests.  Glenn was 16 years older than me, and he was married.  The latter fact effectively blocked any thoughts of a relationship with Glenn other than really-good-dive-buddy.

While Glenn lived in Friday Harbor year round, I had to return to college in Seattle in the fall.  After spending six months finally focusing on marine biology and scuba diving, returning to the relatively sterile coursework offered at the Seattle campus was a huge let down.  I worked on every angle I could to get myself studying back up in Friday Harbor as soon as possible. I returned every spring quarter for a couple of years until I finally just stayed for good.

Glenn and I had kept in touch with each other, and occasionally we would find the time to go diving.  In between dives, we talked and got to know each other a bit better.  Glenn became less intimidating, and more of a friend.  Glenn was still married, but was very unhappy.  He had apparently moved out of the house before, but this time he was determined that it was the last time.  He moved onto his 35' Bristol SeaSwept in the marina, and called me.  For quite a few evenings after that, I visited him at the boat, playing the role of supportive friend.  We had many long conversations about life, love, and dreams.

One night, in the middle of one of these conversations, Glenn asked, "Would it be alright if I kissed you?"  "Absolutely not!" I said.  "Never, under no circumstances, will it ever be appropriate for you to kiss me."  Well, he laughed and backed off right away.  He couldn't deny that there were many reasons, primarily based on societal rules, that we shouldn't be romantically involved.  I resolved that this "lapse in Glenn's judgment" would not get in the way of our friendship. 

Glenn says that I changed my mind about that kiss the very next day... I say it was at least a couple of days... but, obviously, I did change my mind.  Why?  I used to tell friends it was the "power of suggestion."  Once he put the idea in my head that he would like to kiss me, I involuntarily started to imagine what that would be like.  Now, I think it is better described as the "power of possibility" that I had denied but that Glenn had recognized.

A few weeks later, Glenn and I were talking about our life's goals.  I told him I wanted to pursue a career in marine biology research, and that I was in the process of applying to various graduate schools around the country.  He told me he wanted to get SeaSwept ready for an ocean voyage to the South Pacific Islands and to New Zealand so that he could experience different cultures, see new underwater creatures, and learn to have a more self-reliant existence.  He told me then that his dream would be to take a boat like Columbine on the voyage because it was built to be a tough cruising boat.  To be honest, I was really jealous of Glenn's idea of what was possible.  Sailing to the South Pacific sounded a whole lot better than grinding away at a PhD for seven years.  I wanted to adopt Glenn's goals as my own right then and there!

Quite a lot happened during that first year of our "more-than-really-good-dive-buddies" relationship.  I applied to graduate schools, and we took a long road trip down the coast to visit those schools to see if we could imagine living there on our sailboat.  That winter, I took a 2-month job studying the intertidal ecology of snails in South Australia.  By the time I finished that job, Glenn was officially single again and he had purchased Columbine from his friends who had, coincidentally, decided to move back to Colorado that year to pursue skiing instead of sailing.  He met me in Australia for our "first official date" which was the best and longest first date I've ever had.  We traveled for a month in Australia together with a completely unplanned itinerary.  When we returned to the states in April, we moved from SeaSwept onto Columbine.  We were ecstatic to find out that I was accepted to the graduate program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.  At the end of August, we left Friday Harbor for the first leg of our ocean sailing voyage - a 3-week "shakedown" cruise to San Diego.  The next leg would begin eight years later.

I promise I'll give you more details of some of these events in later posts, but for now, I have a point to make.  Neither Glenn nor I knew quite what we were getting ourselves into the night he asked if he could kiss me.  When Glenn asked if I would marry him four years later, we understood a lot more about each other.  Both of us have embraced the idea that life is full of unusual possibilities, if only you can dream them up and accept them.  We feel, "If it's worth dreaming about, it's worth the adventure of getting there.  And, the adventure is made all the richer when you have someone worth sharing it with!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"There's no thrill in easy sailing
when the skies are clear and blue,
there's no joy in merely doing things
which any one can do.

But there is some satisfaction
that is mighty sweet to take,
when you reach a destination
that you never thought you'd make."
                      - Anonymous


"If one does not know to which port one is sailing,
no wind is favorable."
                       - Seneca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~