bit sorry for myself today. battered and bruised - visited accident and emergency again as wrist is swelling and feeling uncomfortable. i am being impatient and not resting enough. reassured, but disappointed. the healing will take longer than i had anticipated - six weeks or so. my expletives were colourful. as always timing is impeccable ... not.
sleep restored perspective.
medication gives life a gentle, pink hue.
good time to make life changing decisions.
probably.
far less complicated than when i am firing on all cylinders.
lots of very powerful and moving conversations regarding discerning a future base for the resident community today. there is a great deal to consider and inevitably we all have different overriding concerns. ultimately keeping the channels of communication open, healthy and fluid are key. we are founders together of a vision - and we are, therefore, a blessing to each other and potentially to those we will settle alongside.
roeberry, the island retreat, sits on her pennisular and beckons seductively. despite other possibilities that pop up from time to time in other parts of the country, i am aware that this house has a siren call. part of it for me is that she inhabits a small and therefore knowable world with few inhabitants and places. even i can master the layout of the islands with my partial sight. part of the attraction is that the location is so very different topographically. it is unexpected. it makes you think differently. human beings are not in control of this landscape. they have to work respectfully with the landscape and the weather. aircraft and ferries move when it is safe to do so - humanity is kept in its place in a way. reminded it is part of an eco-system and not the puppet master of the planet's destiny. the island lifestyle challenges theologically, spiritually and socially several assumptions about what is important. it isn't comfortable or predictable. reading the blogs of orcadians, quite clearly island life is a social and practical leveller. whether it's the wind (pretty much constant) or attending the film show in the community hall - people gather and re-group, exchange information and, by all accounts, support. this is challenging of course, orcadian communities must be much the same as anywhere with a mix of personalities and experience - not to mention resistence to in-comers. much as i would love to live in a fantasy world which is a cross between 'whisky galore' and shangri-la, i recognise wherever we move to we will be bringing our emotional experince - and we will be gathering with others who have their own stories to tell. we will be settling, nesting alongside very ancient ways of living.
for now i am gathering others thoughts on what island life might mean for them. i am also attempting to get my head around how the property could be utilised.
i am excited.
i am also concerned.
i feel like a shepherd whose responsibility is to facilitate the grazers to find fertile soil where they will grow and fulfil their vocations, for through that process i will be well on my way to fulfilling mine.
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