| True Sprit |
| The other day I watched an amazing Netflix movie called True Spirit, based on the true story of a sixteen-year-old Australian girl, Jessica Watson, who circumnavigated the world on a sailboat. When she was a young girl, Jessica heard about an eighteen-year-old man making the world record for a solo trip and decided to break his record. Her determination was impressive. She stuck with her dream for years, found a mentor to teach her sailing, and found sponsors to help pay for the trip. The story starts with a test voyage where she is sideswiped by a large boat. So much damage is done to her sailboat that it looked like she’d have to postpone her trip. Fortunately, other sailors come to her aid and repaired the boat. Her parents, three siblings, and mentor become her support team and cheer her on. While on her sailboat, she recorded her adventure on a video blog telling the world about her experiences. We accompany her on this journey and see what the stars look like on a clear night at sea and a sunrise that stretch as far as the eye can see. We view flying fish, dolphins swimming alongside the boat, and a whale breaching. One of her more difficult times is when there is no wind and her boat is becalmed at sea for days. But her worse challenge comes near the end when storms make her journey perilous and she has to decide whether to keep sailing or head for land. These were the most heart-stopping, scary parts of the movie for me. At one point Jessica told her viewers that we all have the power to follow our dreams. “It can be really hard,” she said, “but it’s so worth it.” She also said that more people have been in space than have sailed around the world, which I found surprising. People watched her videos from many different countries and were inspired by her courage and willingness to make sacrifices for her dream. One of the sacrifices was living alone for 210 days as she traveled 22,000 nautical miles in a thirty-three-foot sailboat. Jessica’s the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world, traversing the most dangerous and isolated oceans. You can watch the movie on Netflix or read her book: True Spirit: The Assie Girl who Took on the World. Following your dreams was one of the themes of my first book, Red Willow’s Quest. Red Willow is a young Native American woman who wants to become a medicine woman. She follows her heart just like Jessica does despite all the obstacles and challenges of her journey. We all need to have dreams. Our lives are richer and more meaningful when we are working toward something we’re passionate about. Here’s the movie trailer. |
