Well, it's over. My second contract as a cruise ship musician, that is. I'll be heading back to Adventure of the Seas in July for another contract, but, for now I'm at the beginning of a long and well deserved vacation.
Ending a contract is always bittersweet. I've written about the temporary nature of being a crew member before, but, it's important enough to mention again. Especially in this current instance, the awkward feelings of goodbyes are different and palpable in a different way than the last time. My Majesty contract (March - September 2012) was amazing for me. I had an unbelievable time onboard. Loved playing music for a living. Really lucked out with a couple of terrific roommates, saw some beautiful places, and made some great friends along the way. The Adventure contract (October 13, 2012 - May 5, 2013) was the same in many ways, but, felt different to me…probably because I've made a lot of progress as a person since March 2012. Majesty was mostly about getting out of town. Away from painful experiences and people who had done hurtful things to me. I still have the scars from those events, but, those wounds have mended more now. I know this because on the Adventure contract, I was able to become more invested in relationships with other people this time around. By the end of my time on Adventure, I was able to understand that my abilities for personal interaction and trusting others were really starting to get back to a more normal level.
This is made even more noticeable by the fact that it was an intensely tough goodbye this time on my sign off. Not that it hasn't been before or that I don't miss my friends from Majesty, but, this ship was different…and I'm pretty sure that difference was me. For one thing, the cast (singers and dancers) signed on about 1 week after I did in Spain. We work together daily and I developed very close friendships with many of them over the past 6 months. I wasn't part of a cast changeover this time midway thru my contract, so, I've been around the same group of people for the entire length this time.
The other thing is that given the passage of time, I'm now able to take part in friendships in a more intimate way because I'm getting closer to righting the ship of my life and personality, so to speak. As my good friend Jamie Newnham says, "You're available for more of that now." Well said, that man!
In any case, I'm off the ship now and spending a few days in London doing some sightseeing before I head back to the States. Again, as much as I'm looking forward to my vacation it was very difficult to leave the Adventure. Nothing lasts forever and even if I was still onboard AD people would be signing off and new people signing on…the continuing fluctuation of personnel would roll on. Things would change with or without me anyway. What I can say is that I'm happy to have had the opportunity to share experiences with all my friends onboard. I'm thrilled to have met all of you and hope that we get the chance to see each other again sometime soon.
A dancer onboard and one of my good friends, Kieran, said something to me the other night that I won't ever forget. It was wise, cryptic, gloomy, and gratifying all at the same time. He said, "This group of people here. This will never happen again. We'll never all be together again at the same time." How true. Made me recognize how special it was to be a part of it while I had the chance. He's right, we probably won't all be together all at the same time again. Ever. Individually, I know I'll see some of these people again. But, the circumstance of all of us together in the same place at the same time is most likely over.
I'm not very good at saying goodbye. It's certainly not my favorite thing to do. Just like at the end of last contract, I offer a peek into my life for the last 6 months. Just paste the link below into your favorite browser and the video slideshow should start playing automatically. It's a big file (over 20 minutes long), so, probably best to be viewed on a high speed connection.
Until next time, everybody. Stay in touch and safe travels. I miss you all already!
Walkabout: Chapter Two
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/60443309/Walkabout%20Chapter%20Two.m4v
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