Read on Twitter
Two to three weeks ago was the ten year anniversary of the first @JoCoCruise. It meant an awful lot to me, and I'd planned to write up some reflections on that, but I was diverted by family stuff and class prep. Now that I'm able to catch my breath, here are some thoughts.
The cruise has always included fun entertainment and interesting guests (in addition to the pleasant vacation), and that's what first drew us to attend. But the thing that made it remarkable and kept us coming back was the community that immediately coalesced on the boat.
For me, the spirit of the @JoCoCruise community centers on 3 principles:
1) Embrace your authentic self, proudly and openly when you can.
2) When you see an opportunity to do something awesome, take the leap.
3) Celebrate and support anyone brave enough to try those things.
1) Embrace your authentic self, proudly and openly when you can.
2) When you see an opportunity to do something awesome, take the leap.
3) Celebrate and support anyone brave enough to try those things.
It was remarkable how broadly the group shared those attitudes, without any advance coordination and despite our diverse reasons for attending. That's especially true of the spirit of support and encouragement in #3, but the others as well. I'm honestly not sure how it happened.
That said, for me the exemplar of #1's "authentic self" was @chicazul, who did as much as anyone (JoCo included) to establish the spirit of the group, and the founding example of #2's "seize the moment" was Famous @Tracyvwilson running with a joke to join the performers on stage.
Also, that was my first encounter with John Roderick's music: his "Commander Thinks Aloud" was one of the musical and emotional high points of the week. And on a deeper level tied to ideal #2, many of his songs felt like poignant warnings about wasting years on angst and regret.
(I've never called him my favorite artist, but his music meant a lot to me. We corresponded by email a few times, & our daughters played together on JCC4. I still appreciate a lot about him, but the decision on his JCC Code of Conduct violation was just.) https://twitter.com/JoCoCruise/status/1352732984156200960
Those core principles really hit home, and inspired lots of introspection in the months after the cruise. It also helped me to dare a personal leap a few weeks later that I'd shied away from for years, which paid off more than I ever hoped. Such broad impact for a brief trip!
Going back to JCC4, 7, and 10 has been a lovely chance to reimmerse myself in that community and those ideals, though none have had the focused impact on me that JCC1 did. Even as it has grown, the spirit of the community has remained true to its roots: I'm glad to be part of it.
But for all of that, the logistics have often been surprisingly rough on our family, and the cruise schedule has settled in a place that doesn't match spring break for our schools. (I've been emphatically told not to miss class for it, too.) I suspect we won't manage to go again.
Not going back is sad. But I'll keep doing my best to live up to the ideals of the JoCo Cruise community and to remember the lessons it's taught me. (It's sometimes hard, and never done.) I hope I'll manage to stay connected to the friends I've made there, too. It's been awesome.
