Second day at sea. An expanded perspective. Being open, observant to the now, to what is present, to noticing something now that before may have been largely hidden from my land-based perspective. From often our limited perspective, to our sometimes disconnected, distracted or otherwise mindless consciousness.  Instead to expand. To consider new possibilities, new knowledge, to free our minds. Quite exhilarating, and again, a privileged person to be able to indulge in such free thought.

Moon shadow. In my past was a Cat Stevens song. Yesterday it was an approaching shadow among the moon’s glow on the ocean. Slowly and surely, it approached, like a phenomenon emerging from the deep. An interaction between our sun, the moon, the atmosphere and cloud, and the ocean portal.

Moonshine. In the dark of night there is light. The sun’s light communicated via the moon and reflected across the ocean. Into my cabin, as I awoke in the pre-dawn. So lovely, so illuminating, so special, so expansive. Yes, I have an image in my mind’s eye but not reproduced as my phone camera is a little too meek at night.

The moon. The sun and the earth. The science, the theory, the myths, the interactions and the synchronicity.  Learning from the astronomer. So many facts and factors. The visible and always far side of the moon. Our limited earthly perspective yet there is more beyond that perspective. As the moon moves near and far, actually and relatively. Due to its elliptical orbit as well as our earthly location relative to the moon. Perigiee and apogee. So many other factors too. Lunacy. The tides. Eclipses. The moon’s gravitational influence 2.5 times that of the sun, yet the moon and sun alone do not effect the tides absolutely, as the earth’s geography, land masses, ocean depths, storms, etc also interact in so many infinite ways. Complexity among simplicity.

Perspective about tomorrow’s visit to PNG. WW II and the battles there. History written and being re-written. Perspective. Who did what. How horrific, how heroic, how futile, how determined, how brave, how barbaric, how ego-driven, how profoundly damaging. How the fuzzy wuzzy angels helped both the allies and the Japanese. How my father as a POW guard post war in PNG received a thank-you letter from a family back in Japan for his kindness in keeping their son safe. How we are after all, human. Mostly. Thankfully.

Gratitude. Ultimately grateful for my father, for the life he gave me, even though I may have been less so in the past. About to visit PNG, as he did many years past. Our choice to expand or contract our perspective, as we grow older. Choice. To what we pay attention to. To what we respect about the past. How we aspire to be in our future. How we start now.

The reef pilots. Climbing up rope ladders onto massive ships. To assure safe passage through the Great Barrier Reef. The unity of humankind as the pilots of many nationalities team up with their fellow sea-farers on the various ‘bridges’. To share local knowledge. Through work, through trade, through shared journeys, even as ‘ships in the night’, we can be more united. We can be grateful for each other’s expertise. We achieve so much more when we collaborate. We share the joy together.

We can demonstrate and practise resilience. We can achieve forgiveness while the retention of functional grey matter determines that we will never forget. We meet ‘Elvis’ at dinner. A charming mother of four sons being eighty-something in age. On balance, she is grateful for her life, despite the setbacks and shocks she has endured. Now she is just enjoying whatever time she has left, now being 20+ years from her first heart attack. More resilience, more kindness, more joy. Such emotions not everywhere on the ship. Some people are at times predisposed to their misery, or they choose that. Choose that and you will find it. Choose otherwise and life will be an ever-expanding vehicle, a bridge to so many new possibilities. Expanded perspective. Seems good to me, now commit to that. That’s the plan.