Writing through smooth (or choppy) waters while navigating around hazardous obstacles: some reflections after an incredible, risky journey.
We recently arrived home from our voyage via the Celebrity Edge Cruise Ship to Alaska. This massive ship had stabilizing arms below the surface, and a sleek, wise design.
About 5 am one morning a few days ago, our ship’s Captain Matt turned our ship into the Endicott Arm. As we traveled up this fjord, we saw the most incredible views from the front deck.
These are all photos I took this past week aboard the Celebrity Edge as we made this voyage up the Endicott Arm in July of 2024 into the wilds of Alaska.
This unforgettable journey took us into pristine areas with waterfalls, sheer cliffs, and deep cold channels of water laced with floating icebergs.
Captain Matt, a talented Greek man with know-how and authority as Master of the ship, navigated our ship through glaciers and ice packs, as he took us up a fjord past breathtaking scenery to get incredibly close to the Dawes Glacier. He and his crew were doing intricate calculations and monitoring those floating ice masses all of the way up the Endicott Arm to determine how close we could safely get.
Much to our delight, he took our ship closer than anyone had ever dreamed we could go, and we did a couple of triumphant turns before heading on back up the Endicott Arm. Quite often, ships of this size have to turn back long before this point. It’s simply too risky. (Remember the Titanic?)
How does this relate to writing?
What kind of skills do you need to employ in order to navigate the risks you face as a writer? What obstacles do you encounter as you seek to bring your reader “to the glacier” or to guide the readers to the experience you desire to share with them?
What things throw you off balance as a writer—either internally or externally?
If Captain Matt had not been a resilient man, he’d never have been promoted to captain. He would not have been at the helm that day. Captain Matt knew all of the risks involved in our journey and he used every tool at his disposal to ensure that ice packs didn’t endanger our ship on that recent morning.
Because of his courage and resilience, combined with skill and just the right conditions, we stood on the front deck, absolutely in awe of the magical scenery unfolding before us that morning.
The smaller, more agile excursion ship (pictured below) took her passengers even closer to the glacier, the blue hues of the ice forming a massive wall near the water, with the glacier extending far beyond what our eyes could see.
As we got closer and closer, a few crew members came out onto the front deck to tell us what an incredible feat Captain Matt and his officers were accomplishing in this moment as we neared the glacier area. Their admiration and awe were contagious. All of us cheered this magnificent accomplishment, and we smiled as he did a few gentle cookies in the icy water before we left this glacier area.
God provided the weather conditions and made this amazing experience possible. And God created Captain Matt and gave him the wisdom and skill to guide our ship that morning.
If you’re writing a book (or simply growing a body of work on Substack), what has this experience been like for you?
What risks have you taken? What obstacles have you overcome? How close have you come to your vision for this book or your articles?
If Captain Matt had allowed doubt or fears to hinder him, we wouldn’t have ever seen this majestic fjord with those deep, icy cold waters. We’d have missed the waterfalls running down from the snow capped peaks or glaciers, adding ripples to the channel we traveled along.
How has creative anxiety or self-doubt kept you from reaching the vistas you dream of seeing up close? What are you doing to move past the icy hazards of imposter syndrome or self-doubt?
How close will you get to your envisioned destination?
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Discussion Thread #2 for Writing as Breathing: Reflections on our trip up the Endicott Arm to see the Dawes Glacier in Alaska, and parallels to the writing process.
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Writing through smooth (or choppy) waters while navigating around hazardous obstacles: some reflections after an incredible, risky journey.
We recently arrived home from our voyage via the Celebrity Edge Cruise Ship to Alaska. This massive ship had stabilizing arms below the surface, and a sleek, wise design.
About 5 am one morning a few days ago, our ship’s Captain Matt turned our ship into the Endicott Arm. As we traveled up this fjord, we saw the most incredible views from the front deck.
These are all photos I took this past week aboard the Celebrity Edge as we made this voyage up the Endicott Arm in July of 2024 into the wilds of Alaska.
This unforgettable journey took us into pristine areas with waterfalls, sheer cliffs, and deep cold channels of water laced with floating icebergs.
Captain Matt, a talented Greek man with know-how and authority as Master of the ship, navigated our ship through glaciers and ice packs, as he took us up a fjord past breathtaking scenery to get incredibly close to the Dawes Glacier. He and his crew were doing intricate calculations and monitoring those floating ice masses all of the way up the Endicott Arm to determine how close we could safely get.
Much to our delight, he took our ship closer than anyone had ever dreamed we could go, and we did a couple of triumphant turns before heading on back up the Endicott Arm. Quite often, ships of this size have to turn back long before this point. It’s simply too risky. (Remember the Titanic?)
How does this relate to writing?
What kind of skills do you need to employ in order to navigate the risks you face as a writer? What obstacles do you encounter as you seek to bring your reader “to the glacier” or to guide the readers to the experience you desire to share with them?
What things throw you off balance as a writer—either internally or externally?
If Captain Matt had not been a resilient man, he’d never have been promoted to captain. He would not have been at the helm that day. Captain Matt knew all of the risks involved in our journey and he used every tool at his disposal to ensure that ice packs didn’t endanger our ship on that recent morning.
Because of his courage and resilience, combined with skill and just the right conditions, we stood on the front deck, absolutely in awe of the magical scenery unfolding before us that morning.
The smaller, more agile excursion ship (pictured below) took her passengers even closer to the glacier, the blue hues of the ice forming a massive wall near the water, with the glacier extending far beyond what our eyes could see.
As we got closer and closer, a few crew members came out onto the front deck to tell us what an incredible feat Captain Matt and his officers were accomplishing in this moment as we neared the glacier area. Their admiration and awe were contagious. All of us cheered this magnificent accomplishment, and we smiled as he did a few gentle cookies in the icy water before we left this glacier area.
God provided the weather conditions and made this amazing experience possible. And God created Captain Matt and gave him the wisdom and skill to guide our ship that morning.
If you’re writing a book (or simply growing a body of work on Substack), what has this experience been like for you?
What risks have you taken? What obstacles have you overcome? How close have you come to your vision for this book or your articles?
If Captain Matt had allowed doubt or fears to hinder him, we wouldn’t have ever seen this majestic fjord with those deep, icy cold waters. We’d have missed the waterfalls running down from the snow capped peaks or glaciers, adding ripples to the channel we traveled along.
How has creative anxiety or self-doubt kept you from reaching the vistas you dream of seeing up close? What are you doing to move past the icy hazards of imposter syndrome or self-doubt?
How close will you get to your envisioned destination?