Cruising at Spring Break
I have just left Port Canaveral on Mariner of the Seas — along with 3000 of my closest friends — for my first ocean cruise. It's a week looping around Cuba, with stops in Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, and this is a reunion for the seven of us in my immediate family. So far, the winds on deck are 45 mph which means you can almost lean into the gale and it will hold you up. My earrings nearly blew out of my ears, and in a Marilyn Monroe moment (thank God I was the only one on the bow at the time) my sun-dress upended vertically over my head, and I could not see, let alone get it to stay down! With 14 decks, a rock-climbing wall, ice-skating rink, 1500-seat theatre, pools, hot tubs, and every kind of restaurant, I am in a state of overwhelm.

My intuition is in retreat mode, in terms of tuning in to people; I have become aware of just how much space I need to maintain balance and sanity — and it's a fair amount! I seem to have an interesting radar, though, about intersecting with members of my family serendipitously as I wander the corridors and decks. I am amazed at the number of people who aren't the least affected by the crowds, and in fact, are energized by the teeming masses. I may not be very evolved, I think — I love people in small doses. One at a time it's easy to see the soul and understand any kind of behavior. But in hoards, I must say, it's challenging! How does God do it?! Perhaps the closest I'm getting is to merge with the currents running through the flow of people. Outside my balcony, the cobalt — yes, cobalt! — sea reminds me of the wave action common to us all.