Sailing: A Metaphor for Life

I titled my upcoming art show “When the Wind Stops". When I told someone that was the name of my show they questioned me about this title and couldn’t see how sailing and painting related and why did I see that some sailboats in the middle of a body of water could represent life or painting, for that matter.

Here’s the photo that my friend, Elizabeth took during a sailboat race she was in. They were about halfway through the race when the wind just stopped. All the boats are sitting idle in the middle of Puget Sound with their sails all out. I asked her what they did when that happens!! She talked about awareness. They had to be aware of the most subtle signs, such as the small ripples as possibilities, making preparations for the wind to return, scanning the weather radios, checking radar. All these things went into making a decision as to whether they were going to wait it out, or call for help, or motor back to the yacht club. 

Haven’t we all had things happen in our lives that stopped us in our tracks, sent us wanting to hide under bed coverings, or to the doctor, or into a depression? Well, it’s really what we do with these same terms… awareness of possibilities, preparation, scanning or checking on things, isn’t it, that makes the difference? I’m using the boats stopped in the water with no wind blowing in as a metaphor for my life.

Hope you will come to my show and see my painting of this scene. Such a great photo!