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At Sea

Chanced upon this short film about a man who has been living on cruise ships for a couple of decades. Listening to him describe his days made me think about the trap of routine - different for each person but still a trap. Its why we can't wait for Friday to spring out of it. But that craving for Friday is far from equal and what's to say the weekend is not another trap - just a different one. Many people have a repeatable weekend pattern by choice or by necessity. In that case it would just be a change of scenery within a trap that never really ends. The cruise ship sounds like a variant of that. 

It's possible to change the scenery often or rarely. Cruise water of different countries see new ports of call, meet new strangers while sailing. And all of that is a pattern that repeats in the confines of a cruise ship. I have been on a cruise only once to experience it and while it was enjoyable for couple of weeks its not something I would return to. It's much like our solitary trip to Disney. It was a novel and informative experience but not one we'd try again. I had a client once whose family went to Disney every summer for decades. It was a tradition they hoped to continue forever. The film also brought to mind memories of my grandfather who had not left the house for the last twenty years of his life - his world had shrunk to nothingness and he too like this man was happy. 

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