June: goodbyes, sailing and more

What do you think of when you think of the month of June?

If you live in Cape Town you will be preparing for a dusting of snow on top of Table Mountain. Brrrrr! Go warm yourself beside an open fire.

In England, I think of English summers, strawberries, raspberries, and long evenings. And because I love sport I think of the various English sporting events that take place, Royal Ascot, the Derby, Henley, Wimbledon, and the various triathlons that I used to enjoy. But now, volunteering with Mercy Ships, June has become synonymous with two things. Firstly goodbye; and secondly, sailing.

Mercy Ships has an annual rhythm whereby we spend ten months in a country from August until June. Therefore June is always the time to say goodbye to people who have become friends. People in the host country and on the ship. Many crew members have written about the goodbye phenomena and how it feels, ‘holes in my life….created by the absence of people I love’; ‘like my heart is getting ripped out of my chest every time I say goodbye’; ‘why is this so hard?’; ‘I feel like I have an emotional hangover’.

Different people cope in different ways. I always try to take the attitude, ‘I can’t keep the best people here all for myself……I have to share them!’ I like to think I am releasing them to the next thing with every good wish and blessing, and however much it hurts I trust myself to the ONE who will never change or leave.

But after all the goodbyes, the ship sets sail. This is a beautiful time. A time for resetting the compass, literally and metaphorically. The Captain must check the compass and do a series of manoeuvres once we leave port to reset the compass and set the new destination. I do the same metaphorically. I use the sail as a time to reflect on things past and reset my bearings for what lies ahead.  The vastness of the ocean helps me do that. It creates the space to think.

The Africa Mercy set sail a few days ago from Pointe Noire for the Canary Islands, a fourteen day sail. However, this time I am not sailing with the ship. I have missed the beauty of the ocean and the thinking space it provides. I flew home a week ago to start language school in Switzerland, so I have had to create my own space instead. Space is in many ways a state of mind. Even in the midst of the business of last week in England and all the changes as I adjust to life in yet another foreign country, space is possible. And I am continually reminding myself to reset my compass. To make sure my foundation is secure so that as I start with the end in sight I know I am headed in the right direction. My crew mates on the Africa Mercy just crossed the point zero zero, where the equator meets the Greenwich (prime) meridian. I missed zero zero this year, but last year I sailed here on my birthday and I wrote about it on my September 2013 blog entitled 'Intersection'.

I am grateful for the last month. I don’t like goodbyes, but I do like sailing and I need the opportunity it gives me to check and reset my compass. What are you grateful for this month?

Note: None of the above photos are mine - they are all courtesy of various members of the Africa Mercy crew, including Josh Callow, the amazing Mercy Ships videographer who recently wrote a very heartfelt blog about goodbyes called 'The pieces of my scattered heart' which is well worth a read and describes the emotions far better than I can  www.josh-callow.blogspot.com