Very few stories of past chief financial officers are worth putting into ink. However, Des Moines author Mary Gottschalk’s memoir of self-discovery on the high seas, entitled “Sailing Down the Moonbeam,” is one that might make any college student late for class.
In 1985, Gottschalk and her husband, Tom, left their family, friends and thriving New York careers to sail around the world. A quarter-century later, Gottschalk wrote a book based on the journals she kept during the expedition and how the trip affected her life.
“I could tell you in 1990 what I’d learned in a verbal way or an intellectual way,” Gottschalk said, “but… it took 15 years before I really knew how it changed my life. That I’d live the next 20 years of my life much differently than I’d lived the last 20, because of some of the things that I’d learned.”
Some aspects of lessons she learned on her trip are evident in the first chapter. Gottschalk relives sitting on the deck watching the stars become enveloped by the approaching Pacific dawn. With no desire for anything better in life, she describes a place of absolute contentment that took her 40 years to reach.
Gottschalk also describes the juxtaposition of abruptly going from a New York – to cruising – style of living, where time isn’t measured in seconds, minutes or hours, but rather by the rising and setting of the sun.
In writing her memoir, Gottschalk knew she needed to be a credible witness in writing about events that happened over 20 years ago. She wrote three versions of the book, one from her point of view, one from Tom’s, and then a hybrid of the two. She worked from detailed journals of the events that transpired. When stacked, her diaries were 3 ½ feet high. By using this method, she avoided easy formulations and clichés, and was able to convey moods and feelings with precision.
Gottschalk’s trip concluded unexpectedly three years later in Auckland, Australia, but almost 25 years later, she still carries some of the peace she found on the Pacific Ocean.
“It’s not the same, obviously, but I’ve been much more content since I came back, even with all the pressures of the world,” Gottschalk said.
Gottschalk doubts she would have come to these realizations had she not sailed around the world. She used the advice given by inspirational speakers as an example, explaining that the motivational drive generated by good counseling vanishes after a couple of days.
“The reason (your drive is) gone is that on Monday morning, you step back into the middle of the same old world,” she said. “You’re not going to change (your habits) that have developed over years and years because some guy inspired you on a Sunday afternoon.”
Being thousands of miles away from her lifestyle and habits, with her life out of her own control, Gottschalk had to readjust her style of living.
“When I came back that first Monday morning, I reacted differently than I would have had I stayed in New York.”
Since leaving The Big Apple in 1985, Mary has lived and worked in many places, including Panama, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Mexico.
Now retired, Gottschalk makes her home in Des Moines and continues her passion for exploring new things by freelance writing for “The Iowan” and taking philosophy classes through Drake. Gottschalk also plans on teaching a short course on managing career risk at the Drake business school this December.
And for those who are wondering – yes. She does miss the ocean.
