“Here be dragons” appeared on a globe in the sixteenth century when no explanation could be given of what lies beyond the edge of the known ocean. Sailors and explorers were the astronauts of their time, venturing to faraway places and bringing back tales of what they had found.
One of those explorers stopped in the Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa for supplies before venturing across the Atlantic Ocean. A small, unassuming chapel in Las Palmas, on one of the primary islands, bears a plaque by the double wooden doors. In Spanish it reads “In this holy place Columbus prayed.” I stood next to the sign and had my picture taken, as many tourists do, and tried to imagine what he prayed that night before setting sail into the unknown.
During my stay on the Canary Islands, my girlfriends and I were invited to visit the modest home of a flamenco dancer who lived by the beach. She went swimming in the ocean every day, and we were told to come after her morning dip. As we walked to her home, we paused to study a statue. As I took in the determined expression on the woman’s face, I imagined her to be the wife of a seaman because of the way she stood with hands on her hips, scanning the horizon, trying to catch a glimpse of her husband’s ship returning to port. I wondered what the woman prayed while her love was away.
On arriving at the house, we noted that our seventy-two-year-old hostess had pushed back the furniture on her uneven tile floor. To our delight, she offered my friends and me a dance lesson.
“Stand up straight,” our instructor said in Spanish. “One hand on your hip, the other in the air.”
She demonstrated so that, even if we didn’t know the Spanish terms, we would be able to imitate her.
“Chin up. Shoulders back.” She struck a dramatic pose.
“Right foot, left foot. Again.”
Stand up straight. One hand on your hip, the other in the air. Chin up. Shoulders back. Right foot, left foot. Again.
She watched as we repeated the steps and then shook her head. “No, no, no.” Her finger was pointed at me.
“From the stomach up. You must feel it. Here. Like this. You must dance from the stomach up.”
We tried again.
She singled me out and asked how old I was.
“Fifty,” I told her.
She shook her head, clucked her tongue, and uttered a string of sentences that were beyond my ability to understand with my high school Spanish.
My friend translated. “She says that because you are only fifty, that is the problem. You are not old enough to dance flamenco. No woman can really dance flamenco until she is over sixty. This is because they have not lived enough, loved enough, or lost enough to dance from the stomach up.”
The statue of the seafarer’s wife came to mind. Like the uncharted sea, life and all its unknowns lie before all of us. Whether we are standing on the shore with hands on our hips, watching and waiting, or we are the ones braving the wild ocean, we are created to take risks and live fully that we might experience the exquisite emotions that come from fully living, loving, and losing.
Since that day, I have often thought of the words of our dance instructor. Especially around my birthday, when I’m about to add another year to the count. She convinced me that I did not want to spend any of my days trapped by a looming fear that “beyond here be dragons.” Whenever I face an unknown or daunting challenge, I want to set sail through it with the intent of learning how to dance from the stomach up.
I also took to heart the message I read on the simple plaque by the door of the Las Palmas chapel. The best way to start a journey, whether on the shore or on the waves, is always with a prayer.
Dragons, lurking in the unknown, whether real or imagined, can be slain.
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There’s a Place For You, By the Sea.
By the Sea, by Robin Jones Gunn, invites women to the shore to refresh their souls as they savor this collection of ocean-inspired stories and reflection. No matter where you are, its engaging stories bring the ocean and all its gifts to you. Along with poignant, humorous, and heartwarming memories inspired by the beach, Robin shares poems, quotes, and Scripture verses to help take your mind off whatever is burdening you and bring your focus back to God.
Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.
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