Though I am not technically classified as long-term crew, I am beginning to understand the agony and frustration that the long-termers go through.
Only here for 3 months so far, I have already experiences the pain of goodbyes to many dear friends. Living in this floating village, friendships are formed much quicker than at home as you live in the same community 24/7.
Yesterday I said "see you later" to yet another dear friend. We had both arrived on the ship in the same week, and had shared the ups and downs of adjusting to ship life leading up to Christmas. As we said goodbye to countless other friends in the past few weeks- a new hole was left in our hearts with every friend that left. Last night, it was her turn to say goodbye.
Quite an emotionally trying ordeal to constantly face. For this reason, many of the long-term crew members - whether consciously or sub-consciously have somewhat shut themselves off from the short-term crew. They self-preserve by grouping together - sharing life with those who will be in their life for a longer period. This mentality is understandable but a shame. It does make sense to invest your emotional energy into friends that will be by your side for a long time, but it can be lonely to limit your interaction so much. I guess the fewer close friends you have, the fewer heart-wrenching goodbyes to be said.
This is a totally unique environment with it's own unique dilemmas.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" All your friends back home are still here for you! Hope the goodbyes get somewhat easier for you :)
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand this! I've been thinking about this a lot lately, actually. 150 years ago, say, most of us would stay in the same town our whole lives, and choose our friends and spouses out of a small circle of people. But now with globalization, and life just speeding up in general, we meet so many different people in our lifetime, and are constantly saying goodbye. This can be exhausting, and it's really hard to know how to be open and caring while still maintaining a sense of stability and security. I don't really know what the answer is, just something I've been considering. And I can imagine that in your environment, it's even harder. It's something I'm thinking about in reference to L'Abri as well, because they have so many people coming and going; I want to ask them how they deal with this.
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