From the Bottom Up

This is a book about dreams. It shows the faith, passion, and actions that can make them come true. It is about hope for all of us. A captain’s stories weaving together philosophies learned from a life connected to the ocean and island cultures around the world. With visions of sailing through tropical paradises, bizarre adventures, beautiful moments, and challenging struggles, you will learn what life looks like from the outside in, by someone who got away. An outlook based on the proven faith that dreams come true and a hopeful portrayal that our collective dreams can become a reality. It is a compelling call to action in our personal lives to affect the course for the future of us all. The stories about running away to follow a dream introduce ideas about passion, daring, faith, and the path to making your dreams come true. Fear — and how it affects our society and personal lives — springs from the scary storm stories. The depictions of people and tropical places show different ways of living, priorities closer to the heart, questioning common First World lifestyles. The trade-offs, struggles and hard times describe tenacity and grit, often required in a not-so-normal life. The view from the deck of a wooden schooner, verifies that how we perceive things is profoundly powerful. As crew aboard the good ship Cassiopeia you will learn lessons while on a sinking ship in the Pacific and on islands where they still use bows and arrows. You will travel the West Indies and through the Panama Canal to the exotic isles of the South Pacific. Tales about the amazing power of a single glorious moment in the hands of Mother Ocean with no land for thousands of miles, blessed evenings filled with music and song and overwhelming joy, encounters with the machines of war, and the obvious cries of our dying oceans, all lead to conversations about the nature of humanity. It seems the deck of Cassiopeia has been an international think tank for ideas on why life unfolds in a certain way and what the major influences on the path of humanity could be. There’s been input from people of all nationalities, financial levels, and walks of life. It’s very apparent, especially when seen from the deck of an old wooden schooner, that it’s time for a change in how we humans interact with our planet and each other. From out here it’s easy to see the changes in our oceans, the environment, and the cultural clash between the rich and poor. This book hopes to be slightly more than just an assortment of sailing stories; it’s also a bold assertion that it’s not too late for us to change the direction in which humankind is headed. It is a reminder of the basic ways of thinking and acting that will empower each of our dreams to come true, bringing the dreams that we all share much closer to reality. The big dreams. Peace and harmony, stopping the environmental destruction and ending the waste of our human resources are worthy dreams. If we dare to take them on in our personal lives then there is hope for us all. This is a success book for your life and for the human experience on this planet. Follow your dreams. Take action and change your life to have what you want. What your heart and your soul and your passions want. If each of us does something every day in our life to move towards the peace and harmony we all desire, then we will change the world, FROM THE BOTTOM UP!