The best laid plans…

Hello from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! Well, hello from somewhere northeast of the Caribbean, bearing 231.77 degrees at 16 knots. 

I am well into my DIY writing cruise.

Sometimes trips don’t go as planned. 

In the first few days, we skipped a scheduled stop due to an impending maritime pilot strike and then reversed course for about 12 hours for a medical emergency helicopter evacuation. As they say, the itinerary is always subject to change. It’s part of the adventure when you’re on a ship.

Sometimes writing doesn’t go as planned.

I came with a plan to revise an old project and start a new one; I also have a list of essays and posts to write. I was planning on getting somewhere with my writing by getting somewhere on a ship.

Except that I developed a righteous head cold (on my birthday! *sad trombone*) that is preventing me from operating at my best and from breathing through both nostrils at the same time.

I definitely had a couple of moments where I felt like if I didn’t do every single thing I promised myself I would do, the trip would be a failure. It’s not – it just looks different. 

You know, this is not the worst place in the world to be under the weather. I have an electric kettle in my cabin so I can make myself as much tea as I can drink; I have a mini fridge with cold beverages; I have had chicken noodle soup for lunch delivered to my room for the past few days. I am resting in between decongestant doses and picking up my laptop when I feel up to it. 

I wrote one essay, I wrote this post, I started revising my old project, I started doing foundational work on a new project, and I’ll finish up another essay today as soon as the decongestant kicks in! And I still have more days to go. I guess I have accomplished a lot even though it’s not the all-day-every-day-at-my-desk I envisioned. 

As we go full steam ahead into the holiday season, let’s accept that things don’t always go according to plan. And that’s okay. Let’s not beat ourselves up for things we can’t control. How about it?