Who are you?
Who were you taught to be?
What kind of a person do you want to be, and what do you need to believe to live a life worth living?
These questions take time and energy to answer. No one else can answer these questions for you. However, the analogy in this book is a tool to help you find the answers for yourself.
Adjusting my rudder
In 2008, I had a spiritual awakening. Overwhelmed with homeschooling my son, I knew something needed to change, but I had no idea where to start.
One day on my way out for a walk, I asked no one in particular, “How am I supposed to get through this?!” This answer popped into my head, changing my life forever.
“You know, your attitude is a lot like the rudder on a ship. As long as you keep your attitude adjusted appropriately, you can get where you need to go. But if it gets stuck, you’ll go in circles frustrating yourself and everyone else around you.”
The Captain page 8
As I walked, I started thinking about other parts of the Boat and the parts of life they represented. If my attitude was the rudder, my heart was the ship’s wheel. Strength was my mast; my soul was the sail; the crow’s nest was my forethought. That beautiful lady on the front of the ship was my face. There was so much to think about!
I felt excited, curious, and hopeful for the first time in months. After getting home, I drew a picture to help me remember to adjust my attitude appropriately so I could get where I needed to go.
A tool for spiritual growth and healing
Over the years, I’ve discovered more and more parts of the Boat as I’ve continued learning about myself and sharing it with others. To this day, this analogy helps me get out of my head and focus on better caring for myself and my crew, i.e. family and friends. The Boat introduced me to my Captain, the Divine source of love steering the ship’s wheel of my heart. It showed me the necessity of balancing work with play and rest and creating space by regularly clearing away garbage and fearful thoughts.
In 2012, I felt compelled to share this idea to help others tossed about on life’s stormy seas. I wrote the book using the four systems of a ship as the chapters.
- The guidance system covers thoughts, values, and stories of who we think we are and who we want to be.
- Logistics refers to caring for and communicating with ourselves and our crew.
- The propulsion system examines our souls, strengths, motivation, and self-discipline.
- The navigation system helps us focus on what we’re looking forward to.
Like a first pancake, this book was a good start, but far from complete. As soon as I published it, I realized there was still much more to learn.
I’m glad you’re here.
I believe this Boat analogy is a tool for self-discovery and healing. While sailing through daily life, our challenges can feel overwhelming. Like the waves on an ocean, facing and overcoming those difficulties is necessary to get where we need to go.
I’ve found it incredibly helpful to recognize people can improve the world by healing themselves.
While I can’t fix all of the world’s problems, I can do my part. I aim to show up authentically and share this idea, inspiring people of all ages to understand better who they are and what they need to chart a course to a life worth living.
If you’ve been working on yourself, healing, growing, and overcoming these terribly difficult times, I’m happy you’re here. You’re not alone. I’ve been struggling with my own battles, too.
Over the years, I’ve begun to open up about using this idea to deal with my anxiety, rushing, and self-doubt caused by early childhood trauma. Sharing the Boat is my way of leaving behind a legacy of love, hope, and more profound personal understanding for everyone. I aim to continue polishing and updating this analogy, recognizing life as a creative art we are all making.
More to come
I’m currently working on the sequel to this book. The Boat: Charting a Course to a life worth living. It includes a deeper exploration of the eight boundaries we all have (but haven’t been taught); physical, material, mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, temporal, and virtual. Like the lines in a coloring book, our boundaries (especially the pain we experience when those boundaries have been threatened) help us to see ourselves. With worksheets and journal questions, this book includes new boat parts, like the deck of our awareness, the bell of our voice, the navigation lights illuminating our presence, and the wake, the legacy we are leaving behind. There’s even a chapter dedicated to filling our sails. It starts by answering the question, What are seven ways to feed your soul?
I’m always using this idea to write a couple of kid’s books, a coloring book of the eight boundaries, and an oracle deck, for people who enjoy using cards to connect with their intuition.
My friendly blog reader, I look forward to meeting you and hearing more about your story.
Have you ever had a spiritual awakening?
Have you ever read something that completely changed your perspective?
I would love to read about it in the comment below.
xoxo Pam
P.S. If you know anyone interested in joining this conversation, please share this website with your friends and family.
P.P.S. You can also find me on social media on Facebook and Instagram.
*Download the PDF version of The Boat for free from the Library tab at the top of this page. If you want it for your Kindle, you can find it for free on Amazon.
Testimonials
“The Boat is a tool we can carry without weight. …we can find our course and move forward toward a life worth looking forward to. Everyone can be helped with this.”
Mary Kalocsay
“I read this book in one sitting and still read from it every day. The first line on the back cover says, “How am I supposed to get through this?” and I gotta say, people, how many of us can relate to that?! This ain’t no wishy-washy self-help book. This is a field guide for the soul. Pam gives us true insight on how to get through our struggles and build on our strengths. I can tell this book comes from her heart, and that means so much in this crazy world.”
Scot Valadez