6. Note From The Boat - Let Your Emotions Be Your Friend

Yesterday when I was writing this Note from the boat I didn't even imagine how appropriate it might be as I am guessing the emotions are running high today.

Let your emotions be your friend

After spending more than 7 months on the boat I can say that it definitely changed me. To start with
I did not thinks so. I saw working on the boat as a fantastic opportunity to experience something new. Although I’ve said this to myself somewhere inside me there were high expectations, I wanted to be the one who drives the boat, the Captain or the Mate Engineer.

But there is way more to this job than just having knowledge and passing exams. For more than 3 months I was fortunate to work closely with both Captains and Mates and drive the boat under their supervision. I have realised that most of them have been working on the boat for 10 even 20 years and they all seem to have predominantly kinaesthetic preferences.

On my very first day behind the wheel I was given advice like ‘don’t rush, let the boat react’, ‘feel the boat turning’, ‘feel the wind and notice how it effects the steering’, ‘notice the vibration of the engine’ and I, person who is more auditory and visual did feel nothing.

It took time, I’m getting there. I didn’t ask a lot of questions as it is very hard for kinaesthetic people to put something they naturally feel into words, instead I observed and kind of modelled their behaviour.

Only recently I’ve begun to notice that in some situations I myself cannot find the right words to describe what I mean and that is the sign of change, something I’ve never felt before.

Looking back at this experience it all makes perfect sense. The boat is designed to move on the water, water is associated with emotions, feelings, all very kinaesthetic. In shallow waters the boat gets stuck. The same with life, without emotions there is no change, no movement. Perhaps we can learn from the boat and use our emotions as fuel to get us closer to our destination.