"This is important training for even more intense times to come."

What do you know about post-traumatic growth?

My team recently interviewed a very wise man, Richard Rudd, for a documentary on the topic. He said something that both touched my soul and sent shivers through my nervous system:

"This is important training for even more intense times to come."

We’ve been working on this documentary for nearly five years, and this sentiment has never felt truer to me than it does right now.

The fires in Los Angeles have released waves of emotion in me that are difficult to name, let alone process.

Grief for the land I once called home, now burning to the ground.

Guilt for feeling this sorrow so deeply only when it touches my backyard, even as atrocities occur around the world every day.

Anger that's misdirected and flailing, desperate to find someone or something to blame.

And helplessness as I open my perspective to the suffering that exists on a global scale, far beyond the reach of any single individual.

This heaviness is something I want to share here on The Helm, because I believe it’s a conversation worth having.

We're undeniably living through intense times.

Climate change, geopolitical instability, and the quiet battles of our personal lives all weave together into a complex, heavy tapestry.

But as a community of humans who blur borders through the unique privilege of sailing the world, we have a distinct capacity for transformation.

It’s inherent in this lifestyle.

To uproot oneself from land and live at the mercy of the elements requires a fundamental openness to change.

This openness is also at the heart of what’s known as post-traumatic growth which is the theory that adversity, however painful, can be a catalyst for profound personal and collective transformation.

The theory of post-traumatic growth suggests that suffering and hardship, when processed with care and intention, can lead to greater resilience, deeper relationships, and an expanded sense of purpose.

This growth is much more than an individual pursuit. It’s one of unity.

The more we heal and grow ourselves, the more we create ripples of influence, extending far beyond our personal spheres. This interconnected ripple effect is something the world desperately needs right now.

As sailors, humans, and conscientious pirates, we carry an opportunity and, I would argue, a moral responsibility to role model this kind of transformation.

The very act of choosing a life this unconventional teaches us adaptability, resilience, and an intimate relationship with uncertainty. These qualities that we're building through our lifestyle choices can become a foundation for meaningful action in the face of global challenges.

So where do we begin?

How do we embrace the grief, guilt, anger, and helplessness without letting them consume us?

How do we transform these emotions into something that serves not just ourselves, but the world?

Richard Rudd’s words remind us that this is training.

Every storm we weather, both literal and metaphorical, is preparation for what’s ahead. But training requires intentionality and it requires that we lean into discomfort rather than shy away from it.

This is our generation's call to be warriors of a different kind. Ones that see adversity as the beginning of something new.

Post-traumatic growth is a forgotten part of our human heritage.

It asks us to engage with our pain, to reflect on our values, and to take deliberate steps toward healing and action.

Most importantly our humanity asks us to do so with a sense of unity.

So I'll pass the ball back to you...

What ripples will you create?

What part of yourself are you ready to transform, not just for your own growth, but for the collective good?

These are the questions I’m sitting with as I process the collective traumas we're navigating.

My hope is that, as a community, we can sit with these questions together and lead the way into the real final frontier of universal unity.

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