Elle’s Journey

Greetings all! And a very happy Holiday Season to you.

It is the Winter Solstice today, the shortest day of the year.
Traditionally this is the time to be quiet, to pull all your energy into
your soul and wait in the midst of the darkness. “Waiting for
what?” Perhaps its waiting for a suprising discovery that occurs in the
midst of the darkness. Perhaps its simply a time to rest. Perhaps its hearing something for yourself, from yourself, that can only be heard in the space of the silence.

For me this Season, I’m not sure what it is that I need. However, the quiet stillness I’m experiencing surrounded by snow in New England is perfectly perfect.

a voice yells from off stage right: “SNOW! I thought this lady was supposed to be in the middle of the hot Caribbean sweating herself in the sun with no sign of traditional white
Christmas in sight,” remarks an imaginary friend.

Too true. Things have changed quickly and dramatically in the past 10
days. The plan of working informally with my contact with ships for the next 4 months was
shorted by oh. . . .4 months when I was notified the second week I was aboard that a transfer just occured and I’d lost my contact. I was at a crossroads: call this adventure quits or
go for it and pursue a full position with my own ship. Of course, I chose the later and went for it.

Last week I was in South Beach, Miami training with the parent company
I contracted with, an LVMH susidiary. The training, the position, and the company are all
spectacular.

Since there was a gap between training sessions, I had the opportunity to
come visit my New England family in Vermont. So today I am writing you
from the second floor of an old family farmhouse just off the Appalachian
Trail in Southern Vermont. It is BEAUTIFUL country here and all of it is
blanketed with a thick layer of crystalline snow.

Last night the view out my window took my breath away. The moon reflected
off the snow and the Maple trees cast such shadows it appeared to be
daylight in the midst of the night. AND. . .I can really see the stars
out here. Truly and completely!

I’ll be staying here with family until shortly before New Years. I’m
hoping I can get to New York City before New Years, perhaps ice skate
at Rockefeller Plaza and see the ball drop on the 31st. FUN!

Training will continue in New York after the 1st and sometime mid-January
I’ll be back off the mainland USA and back onto the ships, exactly where
and when I do not know. For now, I wait and prepare for the work ahead,
because once it starts, its going to be a quick trip into the midst of
working hard and long in the position of Port Lecturer.

So while my cell doesn’t get ANY reception here in the hills of Vermont, I
am connected more easily by phone and email at present. I’ll be checking
my cell phones voice mail regularly.

I hope all is well with you and that you receive whatever it is that YOU
need from the midst of the dark of Winter. May it benefit you for the
months to come as the light now grows longer day by day.

And for now, I wish you a very merry Holiday Season.

Love, Linda

The 1st 3 days aboard the ship were insane. My trainers work was cut out for him double-time since situations seemed to be stacked against his success; from rooms being double booked for his speaking engagements to announcements not being made regarding his talks.

I was present as an assistant and shadow to be learning his position and seeing how and what he does. Let me tell you, if I happened to be one of the hardest working business owners in Seattle, he is an even harder working entrepreneur in his position aboard these ships.

I could hardly keep up. But I did.

Unlike the last 5 years of building a company, I had the opportunity to rest and balance the day after yesterday in Cozumel and today in Costa Maya on the mainland Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. Each port had their particularities. Both very catered to the tourism industry of the cruise ships.

When I shared about my upcoming adventures with many of the folk who knew me less back in Seattle, they were awestruck by the glamour of what I am doing. I would like to share a thought from the last few days that I had tonight.

~~~I stand on a deck outside in the warm wind. 11:30 at night somewhere on the sea between Costa Maya and Grand Cayman ~~~

The night. Black and dark. It is black and dark just like the night’s anywhere else in the world. Anywhere else in the world it is warm. The people here, the manager’s of the diamond stores, the sales people with the one-handed wave inviting me into their silver store, they are all people, with the same issues and presentation, and posturing, and lessons and loves that I saw back home in a far less ‘glamourous’ space in a drizzly Seattle Sunday afternoon.

Glamour ~ in essence it is the misrepresentation of what is, as to what that wishes to be.

I see no glamour, only people, being people. Real people in real homes who survived hurricane Wilma in Cozumel. Real Panamanian bartenders who are working aboard – long and insane hours – in order to be able to ‘be somebody’ when they return home again. Real inquisitive young dancers who look forward to promoting their career through working aboard in order to get into that performance position that they so desire.

So ironic. Many people assume the glamour is the life, and I see only the glamour in the architecture of the ship. That trully is glamourous. But the people? People are people wherever you go. The surroundings being glamourous or no, I’ve loved hearing the stories of a few people to date, and the dreams that make them go ‘tick’.

When I stood in the quiet of the night with the warm wind whipping my hair, I was reminded that silence is golden, for it is everywhere. And I thank the night that people are people wherever you go as well. And in that way, I know I am not alone.

Linda