Louis Weir, 72

Love and joy created my mast. It is strong although the resilience can be broken.     I fly across the water like a white water raft, and miss little.  I spin, I fly and my laughter creates wind to sail me onwards.   There are vast boundaries on my horizon and I yearn to navigate my way, not alone, but with a fleet only seeking the natural wonders our planet has to give.   Intensity is a demon I am grateful that I sail in a time when I can afford to be who I am.    My sails are woven in a light thread but bound by steel.

Teens are difficult for most and I did not escape the hazards and darkness which envelopes the light.    I did not disappoint my school, I was insignificant, but inadequacies filled my soul.    I loved an amazing childhood and, yes, I admit, I did not relish moving on and leaving it behind.     Quite young, was it 15,  I went  onto what was pretentiously called Business College – new immigrants from Europe were plentiful so while my peers battled with trigonometry, algebra, remembering the French nouns,  I learnt Greek dancing, Italian cooking and individual cultural ways.   I thank the support of employers who steered me through those early days of growing up and learning responsibility.    My swift and susceptible ship grew into stoic adulthood, while the wings patiently stayed intact.

Independence and  self sufficiency,  goals sought while discovering our individual selves.   Embracing the ultimate normality of fashion,  the right of  passage mantra lured me to cross the globe alone. The seas in my  youth seemed without hazard, so I navigated on and  learnt through chance and change.

I sailed so freely and my sails floated and moved  to earth’s many and varied melodies.  In such a state of carefree awareness and open heart I was no longer alone and companionship in my wake helped me navigate life’s journey.    It has been a  good union, but that is not to say that turmoils, dangers and “near death experiences” have been navigated – together we sailed  through storms seeking direction, plus embracing the healing, calm starlit nights touching gentle seas.   With two young offsprings  we sailed  leaving behind the toxic but deceptively secure vast corporate ocean.  The new unchartered waters were  unpredictable, riddled with hazard, but  with  unflinching resolve and adaptation, success was ours.       On reflection, the risk in sailing unknown seas succeeded.  Had we stayed and held onto the security of known horizons, life would have been more intrepid.   The steel in my mast has, I admit,  faded and try as we do, it has over many decades  lost some glow.   However, observing the challenging years ahead, so long as I can still sing  in the rain, dance under the stars, my mast created by love and joy will see me through.