The beginning of a journey

...welcome!

Been a traveller of one kind or another most of my adult life. Left Ol' Blighty (aka England) in my mid-twenties for what I thought would be a short-lived adventure - traveling across the US - and inadvertently opened a door to so many different adventures. All of which have been enriching and nourishing for me personally.

My 'journey' with Inner Sound began when I first met Arden & Jack on that trip in the early 80's. A mutual friend introduced us. One brief but bold letter of introduction later, I found myself staying with this intriguing couple on their tiny sailboat, Lookfar.

At the time, they were at anchor off the shore of Isla Mujeres (near Cancun), an idyllic setting for any journey to begin. Later, we crossed the Gulf of Mexico and traveled up the Eastern Seaboard together, all the way from Florida to Newport, Rhode Island - a pretty amazing introduction to life on the ocean waves for any landlubber! I LOVED it.

The journey wasn't all plain sailing though (excuse the pun). Indeed, Jack and I would so frequently pass our days in heated discussions about the differences in our respective cultures (him a native of Santa Monica, me a Londoner) - that I would wonder what the hell I was doing there. We couldn't have been more different. But for reasons that were not clear to me then, I found this couple intriguing. Their life-style and philosophies were completely alien to me and because they were so different I found myself sticking around.

Being a Taurean with a penchant for determined effort (some might say stubbornness lol), I persevered in my efforts to respond to Jack's incessant enquiries about British culture, not always patiently I have to admit. Almost on a daily basis I experienced an inner mortified embarrassment that nearly every time we engaged in a conversation I'd find myself defending a way of life I had been only too happy to distance myself from a few months before. The irony was not lost on me - and somehow I felt 'trapped'!

That trip was the first of many such experiences over the years - where events conspired to demonstrate a bemusing gap between my personal perception of reality - and something else going on! My solution to my 'problems' (as I perceived them) - 'leaving it all behind' - never quite worked out how I imagined it would. Eventually, I'd come to realize that I'd only succeeded in packing those same 'problems' right along with me - as part of my 'internal' baggage - bringing them along for the ride! But that took a few years - and a few trips!!

Back then, I had no idea of the role this couple would play in my life, but that first 'journey' was the beginning of many that have transpired during our enduring friendship that has lasted half my life; and which has been instrumental in helping me learn how to resolve a great many of those so-called 'problems'.