Reclaiming Awe: The Voyage of Awareness

The bow of SV Sapphire — my mother's sailboat — on our last voyage together. A reminder that every journey begins with awareness and unfolds with awe."

People don’t skydive to know what it feels like to land.We don’t summit a mountain just to take in the view from the top.

When I took The Dive of 1000 Steps in Bonaire, it wasn't only the turquoise water that took my breath away — it was the descent, the climb, the rhythm of effort and surrender. My heart pounded with each step down and each step back up, the full experience etched into my body. It taught me something profound: where you begin your ascent matters.

Some see starting from the lowest point as a disadvantage. But I've come to see it differently. Those who begin below sea level — who've faced the shadows, setbacks, or seasons of uncertainty — have the capacity to feel the fullest ascent. They experience the stretch, the miracle of rising, the wonder of seeing how far they've come.

Awareness and perspective matter — a lot.

Think about it: we routinely board airplanes and soar at 30,000 feet, suspended between earth and sky, yet rarely do we pause to marvel. You don't often hear people say, "Oh my God, can you believe how high we are?" We normalize the extraordinary. We let the miraculous become mundane.

Why? Because awe and wonder are quietly conditioned out of us long before we even board the plane. "It's no big deal," we tell ourselves. But who decided that? Who decided that soaring through clouds or climbing from darkness to light wasn't worth noticing?

And yet, some things refuse to be normalized. The visceral pull of the ocean. The silent majesty of a full moon. The breathtaking promise of a sunrise.

No matter how many times we witness them, they still stop us in our tracks. They remind us who we are — beings capable of wonder.

This moment in my work — and in the life of JMM — feels very much like standing at the threshold of one of those sunrises. The Leadership Accelerator is not just a program, it's a vessel — a kind of sailing yacht — carrying a founding crew of extraordinary humans who have each chosen to reawaken to possibility, purpose, and perspective — together.

I chose each person aboard not just for what they do, but for who they are: their courage, their willingness to explore, their impact on the world around them. Together, we are setting off towards something new — a field of consciousness and community where awe is not the exception, but the foundation.

For those watching from the shore, know this: this launch is for you, too. 

Every launch begins with awareness. 

Every awakening begins with wonder.

Look towards the horizon. You are already in flow.

Are you ready to dip into possibility?

Perhaps this is how we begin to reclaim awe — by remembering that it's never been lost, only overlooked. By choosing to see the ordinary as extraordinary again.

At JMM, we believe that living an extraordinary life doesn't require dramatically leaving it all behind. It begins with one simple musing: 

What if? 

What if I slowed down enough to feel wonder? 

What if I allowed myself to see how far I've already come? 

What if I fed my ability to live in possibility?

Because that's what this movement is — an awakening to what's already within us. Whether you're part of the Leadership Accelerator or simply sailing alongside us as part of the JMM Community, you belong here.

Together, we are normalizing what it means to live awake, aware, and in awe of our own unfolding.

What if this is only the beginning?