A Grand Tour of the Western Isles in days gone by, as a journey was a tour de force for the sailing ship and the men
on board her. North of Scotland these small groups of islands such as
the Faroe Islands midway between Scotland and Iceland and closer
to home Shetland, the Orkneys and the Hebrides and the people living
on them have braved
the vicissitudes of isolation and poor weather which gives them a sense
of their own worth a worth not hewn out by the adman. Their stoicism,
an individualism, mixed
up with small community mindfulness makes them assured
in their own values. The singularity of life on a small island brings
the focus to a point where the everyday fundamentals are the essence of
life and a simplicity ensues that life's purpose has a chance
to grow and prosper in a way denied to those living in the hustle and bustle of mainland cities.
I suppose
it's like going on "retreat" where only the basics are allowed, silence
is golden and consumption of everything toned down to a minimum, the
inner self revived by ones own singularity, no longer playing games to
court the unanimity of others.
Many of the islands are nothing more than a days walk from one end to the other. Crofters have a mental and physical
spectrum which is tied to the needs of their croft, bolstered by good
weather and hunkered down by bad, their vision is of the earth and
sky defined in a way most people on the mainland are defined by a place
to park their car
in a busy city. The sense of life's simple bounty being due to their own
efforts not the effort of a mechanised Supermarket, brings the circle
of day and night into sharper
perspective since only through your own effort and commitment will they survive at all.
The
individual islander is first and foremost an individual, stoic by
nature, patient by temperament. Having learned the time of day by the
chores which await him or her, each day the pattern and rhythm of living
on a small spec of land, surrounded by
unhelpful sea is microscopically drawn to the particular.
And so perhaps the concept of a "retreat" is at odds with the simplicity of survival.
The hedonism of believing we can gain much from withdrawal and contemplation is countermanded by the austerity of life, living on the edge of civilisation.
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