It has been a minute since I last lived aboard. I had forgotten how every task or activity on a boat requires a process. All of them. Some are simpler, some are more complex than they need to be, and some are just downright disrespectful. Want to have a cup of coffee? There are 15 items in the way of your kettle, and you have to stand on your head to get the milk out of a tiny fridge and the coffee is in the locker behind the settee cushion which currently has a stack of whatsits sitting on top of a large whosit. Want to get dressed? Balance on one foot on a sloping, slippery wooden floor. Also, realize the jumper you want is under the bunk which will once again, require you to stand on your head. And the walls are only 24 inches apart.
I try to make our beds every day. It makes me feel that I have accomplished a thing on the morning routine checklist of tasks. This is why I keep a handy spatula in our cabin. For bedmaking because…process remember? Next time you make your bed, lay down prone in the middle of the bed. Without raising yourself more than 24 inches. Put new sheets on and make the bed. Bonus points if you can do it while the bed is rocking and rolling. I feel that this would be excellent training for octopus wranglers but alas, I have no desire to tussle with any cephalopod anyway
I try to slow down and enjoy the processes. So far, I’m becoming adept at breaking tasks down and focusing on each step, reminding myself that I wanted a life less ordinary, and this is part of it. It has truly helped in adjusting to full time, no house to bail out to boat life. I think that’s a lesson right there for all of us. When it starts to feel complicated, slow down and remember our lives are built out of tiny moments like this. How lucky we are to be right here, right now, doing this very thing.