You’re the Boat: Charting a course toward a life worth looking forward to.
Attitude is like the rudder of our ship. We must adjust it appropriately to get where we need to go.
Inspired by a total freak-out in 2008, I drew this Boat analogy to see myself beyond the storm I was sailing through. You can read more about it in the book intro.
Everything on the Boat represents a part of life. Attitude is our rudder. Our heart is the ship’s wheel. The mast describes our strength. The sail is our soul. That beautiful lady on the front of the vessel represents our face. We see what we need to fortify ourselves, provisions, fun, and rest within the portholes in the “belly” of the ship. The Captain of the ship refers to our connection to the Universe.
This idea helps us to self-reflect, essential to healing, learning, and growing into the truth of ourselves. One of the first lessons I discovered was that a tiny change can drastically affect our future. There’s a lot of hope in that!
I wrote this analogy into a book in 2011. I packed it with insights, including inspirational quotes and the original boat drawing from 2008. The chapters describe the ship’s many parts through four systems: guidance, logistics, propulsion, and navigation. Click this link to download the PDF and read the book.
We’re never done learning.
Learning about ourselves can be incredibly difficult and even painful. Like burning our hand on a hot stove or sharing a secret with someone who later betrays us, life’s lessons can be harsh. The Boat gives us a template to see ourselves beyond where we’ve come from and what we’ve been told. The more we know the better we can protect ourselves.
The Boat analogy helps us recognize the values of our moral compass, our daily thoughts within the ship’s log, and the maps of where we’ve been. Looking at the wake, the legacy we’re leaving behind can help us see the dream of where we’re going. The sextant represents the working knowledge we’ve picked up during our lifetime. The heavy keel at the bottom of the ship teaches us to be grounded by caring for our responsibilities.
Thanks to this analogy, I’ve built a happy home and a healthy life. I still have a lot more to learn, and in the meantime, I’m sharing it with others because serving the greater good is one of the values of my moral compass. It’s my Captain’s orders, if you will.
How has it been going?
With assistance from friends and my husband, I self-published this book in 2012. The first week after publishing, I discovered I had missed parts: the bell, the navigation lights, and the wake.
The bell represents our voice, encouraging us to pay attention as we communicate with our crew and ourselves. Our navigation lights remind us to show up and shine brightly so others see us! The wake is the legacy we’re leaving behind, whether we realize it or not!
Promoting the book inspired me to use my voice to communicate this idea to my audience. I had to overcome my fear of public speaking to show up and share the analogy with others. My legacy of sharing this idea to encourage others to chart a course to a life worth living is the wake of my ship.
I’ve discovered more parts of the analogy as I continue learning about myself. That’s where we find the magic of this analogy. The more we look at the Boat, the better we know ourselves.
The waves of our challenges can be encountered within our eight boundaries: physical, material, mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, temporal, and virtual. The deck describes our awareness within our body, mind, and soul. Every day, we need to “swab the deck” (clean ourselves and our home) and “run the galley” (prepare meals, do dishes, and take out the garbage).
With so many new ideas to share, I have compiled them into new books for people of all ages.
New books and classes
Today, I’m working on the 8 Boundaries coloring book for Little Kids and The Boat: Charting a Course to a Life Worth Living workbook. I plan to publish these in Canva in 2025. (read more about them below)
The old saying goes, “We teach best what we most need to learn.” The Boat has inspired three classes I’m looking forward to offering in person and online in the coming year. This way, we can have a chance to learn about ourselves, while we have some fun! Each class will be approximately 90 minutes long and costs $25.
Class #1
The three things you need to Fortify Yourself and your Crew. This class helps you look at what you need using the Boat coloring sheet, your menu, and your grocery list. There are worksheets to figure out your five favorite ways to have fun and your five favorite ways to rest.
Class #2
Navigating the eight boundaries of your relationships. This class focuses on your relationships with your boundaries: physical, material, mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, temporal, and virtual. When you identify what is essential and sacred, you can better protect yourself and your crew. This class includes worksheets to see who’s on your crew and your responsibilities, and the Scribble sheet shows how you spend your time.
Class #3
Maintaining the balance between pride and healthy self-worth. This class uses the Boat coloring sheet to look at the flags of your identity, the riggings of your self-discipline, and the mast of your strength. The worksheets include Strengths, Skills, and Abilities. And What’s your legacy?
Check out these new book ideas!
- The 8 Boundaries coloring books for little kids, older kids, and adults. Like the lines in a coloring book, boundaries help us see who we are and who we are not. Each book has 32 pages describing the eight boundaries: physical, material, mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, temporal, and virtual.
- The Body, Mind, and Soul Book for Kids. This teaches children ages 4 to 8 awareness of themselves through their body, mind, and soul using the Boat analogy.
- The Boat: Charting a Course to a Life Worth Living is a workbook for people 14 and up. It is an updated version of the original analogy, including the ship’s four systems and the new ship’s elements. This book includes coloring sheets and worksheets to inspire deep personal understanding and fun!
- 365 Days Charting a Course to a Life Worth Living. This journal/daily calendar offers short writing prompts for young adults.
- So glad you’re here! This beautiful lap-sit book looks at things babies can experience with their people.
- The New Chef Friendly Cookbook This is spiral–bound and contains cooking tips and easy, inexpensive recipes to inspire young chefs to “run the galley” by building a menu and cooking for themselves and their crew.
- The Deck of Awareness Oracle Deck and Guidebook uses the four systems of the Boat (guidance, logistics, propulsion, and navigation) and all the ship’s parts to help you chart a course to a life worth living.
Onwards!
I’m using the funds from my card readings and art classes to publish these books. Please email me at pam belding at gmail dot com and let me know if you want to take a class. You can also tell me which book you’re most interested in seeing come to life.
I’m very excited to see these ideas in the world, helping people to build a happy home and a healthy life. I look forward to hearing from you!
xoxo Pam