The First Rule of Flying

 This sermon is posted on behalf of Proteus :
 

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: It ain't all buttons and charts, little albatross. You know what the first rule of flying is? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I'm about to say.

River Tam: I do. But I like to hear you say it.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

River Tam: Storm's getting worse.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: We'll pass through it soon enough.

- Serenity (2005)

We're all a captain of a boat. The boat can be the job we work, the family we raise, the community we participate in, our own apprenticeships here at TOTJO, or the creative projects we undertake. Most importantly, however, the boat is our own selves first and foremost. The waters (or skies) that we sail through, sometimes are calm, still. And sometimes they are raging, crowded, and testing. How well does your boat hold up when they are? How well do you know the “first rule of flying”, to make sure your boat keeps you afloat and passes you through the storm?

In one way or another, the idea of love seems to mean something at least slightly different to each of us. For myself, it seems to revolve around acceptance. How can one love one's self unless they accept who they are? How can one love their job unless they accept the hardships along with the excitements of it? How can one love their boat, unless they accept that it may not be the most perfect boat in the 'verse?

Zoë: Don't think it's a good spot, sir. She still has the advantage over us.

Mal: Everyone always does. That's what makes us special.

In the movies, Jedi are seen as saints... they are superior in so many things. In this context, it is these superior traits that seem to make them special... but I don't follow this image, at least not in this context... How does one even know their strengths without the acceptance of their weaknesses? In the world of writing fiction, how enjoyable can a book be when all the characters have only strengths and no weaknesses? How enjoyable is a story with no conflict?

So I don't know about you... but to me, the first rule of flying is

“Accept that you will surely end up in rocky waters...

that parts of your ship will fall off...

that you will have crew members who test your nerves...

that you will find yourself lost out there in the vastness...

that you will fail at a task, or a goal, or a dream...

that you will be questioned, criticized, mocked, looked down on...

that there are boats larger and more “prettier” than you... that doesn't make them “better”...

that things will not always go as planned, or as smoothly as hoped...

Accept the waters your sail on... the winds that take you... the storms that ride in....”

And just in case you have trouble understanding my meaning, acceptance is not to say “agreeing with”... It means letting go and not trying to control the things which you cannot control, letting them take their course, and find actual value in those things instead. If you look closely, even the most trying situations will offer something to you that nothing else in life ever will. It's up to you to decide what that will be. The ocean is certainly not empty...

Let yourself accept things as they are... let yourself accept you as you are.... let yourself accept others as they are, and I can guarantee you, you will be blown away at what your ship can endure... In fact, I can bet you, if you look back on your life, you'll see this first rule looking at you, smiling and waving to you.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: You think she'll hold together?

Zoë: She's torn up plenty, but she'll fly true.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Could be bumpy.

Zoë: Always is.