Setting sail with Reiki

It all began with a thought -- a thought in the mind of a 12-year-old boy, more than 40 years ago.

"I was about twelve when I decided that I wanted to build a boat and travel the world," Reiki Master Teacher Gordon Brown says, "This desire never left me." He's 54 now, and this week, after all those years, all that dreaming and all the ways the distractions of life can get in the way of those dreams, Gordon's finished boat, the Amnesty, made it into the water at last. Reporters from three local Massachusetts newspapers showed up for the launch, and the next day the front page featured a photo of Gordon at the helm in a victory salute.

Victory, yes. Mission accomplished? Hardly -- this guy's just getting started. He's going for more: a victory lap around the world, accompanied by a flotilla of others who, like him, have survived cancer.

Gordon got his first mention in The Reiki Digest back in March, when he was interviewed by a local reporter about his boat and his plans. We named him a Celeb-Reiki for that. But such an ambitious and inspiring quest deserves much more than a mention. Now that the Amnesty has been launched, Gordon has agreed to check in with us from time to time during his travels, and we look forward to his dispatches.

You can read more about Gordon and his journey in the recent newspaper articles about him:

"Amnesty" on the high seas

Cancer survivor takes step toward dream

And there's even more on his web site, The Victory Lap.

Gordon's dream-come-true reminds us that whether any of us ever takes to the high seas, whether we journey to exotic lands or spend our entire lives in one neighborhood, we all are traveling this world in a vessel of our own making.

Gordon didn't build his boat entirely from scratch -- he bought an empty hull and then spent five years building it out into a vessel worthy of circumnavigating the globe. That's kind of the way it is for all of us: at birth we start out with a vessel, our body, that isn't capable of traveling on its own. But after some time, effort, and care, we build ourselves into self-sufficient vehicles that can go just about anywhere and do just about anything we care to do.

He also didn't build the boat alone. Two years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer, Gordon nearly gave up on his dream. He put the unfinished boat up for sale, and the first potential buyer who showed up not only convinced him to keep going, he also volunteered to help.

As all sailors know, the boat may be ready at the moment, but it's going to need constant maintenance, nearly all of it preventive. The same person who built the boat, in this case, is going to have to keep rebuilding it constantly during the voyage. So, too with the rest of us and our own vessels.

Gordon's sailboat may only have needed five years to get ready for its voyage, but it's taken him an entire lifetime (so far) to prepare: not just all the years since he first got the idea as a boy, but the 12 years it took before the thought first occurred to him. And for all of us, whether we are conscious of it or not, a lifetime of experience goes into our every thought or action. And those thoughts and actions then create our future experiences. The Amnesty's voyage has barely begun, and it's going to take many more of those thoughts and actions to get her around the world and home again.

Congratulations, Gordon, and bon voyage! We look forward to hearing from you during your travels.