The Heart of a Doer..

Today I met two of the most interesting people I have ever encountered in my life. One is a full time sailor from Seward, Alaska and the other a bush pilot from northern Canada. Together they sailed the northwest passage last year. My husband knew him from some seasonal slope work he had done before embarking on this epic voyage. We met his wife for the first time today. She had happen to land in the same small Canadian town on the same day he pulled in to do some repairs at the beginning of this trip, then joined him for the rest of the adventure.

She had flown over this area many times but loved seeing it from the sea for the first time. She described the beauty of Greenland as they traveled through the outlying islands in their way to Iceland to pick up the sail boat we were now sitting on as Heber checked out the engine room James looked at maps and chased their cat and Dodge happily played with sockets in the hull.

She told me about the previous owners of the sailboat, which were a family with 3 kids who sailed the Carribean in an 800 sqft boat for years. Small evidences of children were quietly echoed with the pink bed skirts on the bunks and the marker under the map table. What stories they must have had to tell.

As we visited he showed us pictures of a small cabin he had built outside Seward last fall with his high school aged son to each him discipline and the value of work. They plan on staying docked there until he graduates, teaching sailing and scuba lessons and fixing engines, so he can see more of his Son.

Eventually after sailing Antarctica they hope to homestead in Idaho and live completely off the grid. 

At this point we had a lot to talk about, different investments and land options, professional outfitting and horseback riding. The value of raising boys in the country. The enthusiasm reverberated between us growing with each pass. We actually have a lot in common.

The conversation ended with how neither of us plan much more than 3 years ahead because so much can change between now and then for "doers" or "livers of life".

Up until this point I had felt a little intimidated by these true adventures and modern explorers. What in the world could a stay at home mom who has never been further east than Minneapolis for a work trip say to them?!

Yet whenever I picture my perfect life they are exactly the type of people I imagine having over for dinner parties. Interesting dynamic unique individuals with stories to tell and life battered wisdom to impart. Only every time I slip into this fantasy I am slapped back to reality with "What would people like that be doing in rural Idaho at a farmhouse dinner table?" and "What would interest them to sit at yours?"I sit perplexed.

I think deeply but rarely get into philosophical discussions. I paint amateurishly. I read mostly books about how to better educate my children and not burn the chicken. As interesting and well traveled as I'd like to be, I've spent my last 4 years pregnant, nursing, dreaming and posting hilarious toddler quotes on Facebook. The thing is though, I'm not ashamed of it. There will be years of home school adventures and outdoor trips and exotic travel. My life may seem ordinary and expected from the outside but inside it is full of wonder and richness that can only come from high quality ingredients given time to simmer together. And doers will see that, because it's not WHAT you do that makes you a liver of life, it's the heart and energy you put into it that draws like minded and similar spirited people to you.

One of my favorite pages to follow on Facebook is "Humans of New York" because the author of this group has an amazing talent of running into ordinary people on the street and pulling out extraordinary, thought provoking, or touching stories from their lives and perspectives. He sees meeting people as a grand adventure and presents his work to us in such a way that leaves us hopeful and curious about humanity. Its not that the people are that wonderful it's just that we see things through his lens that is.

This is how doers view life as something to engage in. Its a lens that makes everything curious, interesting, thrilling. This is how some people have the gift to see the divinity in others. They are not only what is there but can be or was.

I remember reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" for a college persuasion class. One of the key principles is to be genuinely interested in their lives. A doer is always interested and because of this learns things and gains associations that others may over look. And in the end, that's what makes them interesting.

Who is the most interesting person you've ever met? What drew you to them?