The Body in Question Part II

I thought this might be the time to revisit the physical implications of boat living.  Yesterday we spent a rather pleasant day, did some shopping for groceries, then dragged a battery to the intex dinghy and went for a little tour of Middle River, watching the Ospreys fish, avoiding jerks in jetskis, and in general have a fine and rather peaceful time capped by a fine dinner of tandoori chicken and fresh local corn.....

....so why was it that at the end of the day, I felt like I'd been hauling sacks of cement all day?

Thinking back on it, it was apparent.  We'd spent the day getting on and off the shantyboat, in and out of small dinghies, carrying bags of ice and groceries to and from the vehicle, up and down docks, over rails. .  . . .

My point is this:  Being on a boat is work.  Just dealing with the subtle shifts in balance and direction takes a degree of energy, and you wind up doing a kind of low level isometrics to keep yourself anchored and in place.  I've lost weight--to the point that I'm having to buy new jeans and a belt--and the weight shows every sign of staying off.

Then, too, are the effects of the change of lifestyle:  Over the last several years, Morgainne and I have had fairly stressful lives, just with different kinds of stress.  She was basically overworked, working as an artist, a retail manager, and a teacher.  I taught, did theatre, wrote, worked in the restaurant industry as caterer and front end, and did a whole host of other things to try and make ends meet through one of the most uncertain periods of our economy.  The net effect was we both worked 60+ hour weeks, got little sleep, had too little money, and wound up exhausting ourselves just to make TIME for ourselves.

I suspect most of you know the drill.

The conversion to our aquatic lifestyle, with minimal expenditure for housing and maximum time to put to our own purposes has been amazing.  We sleep when we want, and as much as we want, which is astonishing.  Lack of a hurried life means lack of the need for rotten fast food, grabbed meals, skipped meals, and stress.  Yet we're more productive than we've been in ages.  Morgainne is constantly in her studio, and working on her Blog, and I've been writing and designing interactive games to beat the band.

And I don't know how to say this, and it sounds ridiculous, but my beard, which was Santa Clause white, is now coming in blonde again.  Don't know if it's stress or diet, but it's the case.  I don't get angry anymore over little things.  I have the liberty to do or not do stuff, and can do my art and writing without respect to whether or not it will make income in the near term.

I don't know where all this goes.  I just know I feel better than I've felt in ages.

Stress kills.  Don't let them do it to you, or convince you it's normal or necessary.

Stay Tuned.
M

Hey, check out our new cooking in small spaces blog onboardcooking.blogspot.com HERE and Morgainne's blog lifeartwater.blogspot.com HERE.  You'll be glad you did.