Adjusting to Land After a Cruise Job
I’ve been home for over a month now. Veterans on the ship used to talk with disgust about the shock of returning home from a contract. Musicians talked about the lack of gigs at home, we all talked with spite about the weather at home.
The weather here at home is terrible. Yesterday a cold rain dripped through the trees and this morning we found the same rain turned to ice, clinging to every surface. There’s no talk of outdoor activities, nor will there be until at least April or May (and not definitely until June).
Gigs are sporatic and low-paying. It’s difficult to make a living as a musician, nobody can dispute that. Pianos are out-of-tune, keyboards are heavy, and more often than not those same keyboards that have replaced the out-of-tune pianos sound as much like a piano as a bird sounds like a bear.
Life is, clearly, not nearly as easy as it was on the ship.
But life is more full and satisfying on land. Relationships are deeper, space is abundant, daily activities are now priviledges. I get to see my cousin’s kids grow up, and I get to play cards with my Grandma and her friends on Fridays. My friend Rick comes over and we play jazz just for ourselves, because it’s fun. Scheduling is difficult, and finding a real job is worse. People’s lives are complicated, and life is a worthy challenge.
I’m happy to be back to a challenging life, although I must admit that I’ve so far been unable to completely shake off the lethargy that I laid in for so long on the ship. Having spent 6 months trying to quiet my stirring mind, I’ve so far found it a little difficult to turn it back around. I’ve brought contentment and serenity back with me, only to find that neither has any place in this life.
Altogether, it is indeed a transition to come back to land. Although I’d never go so far as to say that ship life involved any sort of deprivation, it is certainly – even after a month – a relief to once again be a participant in a challenging life and to again have all the specific priviledges of such.
We used to hear on the ship that it took at least 6 months to re-adjust to life on land, regardless of how long you’d been on. The idea, I think, was to securely chain yourself to something on land for at least six months, let the withdrawal symptoms fade, and then – under the supervision of trustworthy friends – slowly unchain yourself. I know now exactly what they are talking about, but I probably came home with fewer withdrawal symptoms than most, considering my disgust with the company I worked for and the boredom I found later in the contract.
I think I’ll stick around.
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Great blog. About the food for crew and staff, I need to know what’s so bad about it? Would I be able to maintain my health eating salads and desserts? What’s on the menus. There’s got to be some good stuff. Steak? Thanks.
5/15/2009
Colina Phillps,
You could possibly maintain a healthy diet, it all depends on the ship you are on and if you like salad without dressing. When I was out there as a musician, we had “staff” status, meaning we could eat at the cafe which was open until 2 in the morning and served all sorts of food. They had steaks, chicken, prime rib, potatoes, sushi, pizza, sweet and sour pork, rice, soup, and plenty of nasty desserts. The only thing about the salads is that the dressings that they had were terrible after about a week. So take your own dressing in a bottle, if you can sneak it past the guards…
7/18/2009
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