Wednesday 26 June 2013

Day 177 - Right by her side. xx

Wednesday 26th June

I am right by her side and exactly where I need to be at this time.  Arrived safely but acutely aware that I probably shouldn't be allowed in the real world on my own.  It may have been the very early start but I think I was locked into a trance like stare the whole journey.  I failed to connect with much around me and just moved through the different stages of the journey a little lost in my own thoughts.  Now you are going to ask me what I was thinking!  Sadly, I can't tell you that because it is a little hush hush at the moment and may, in fact, amount to nothing.  But if it does turn into something it will make us all stop and take in a breath.  I am absolutely busting to tell you but, on this occasion, I am exercising some personal discipline.  This doesn't happen very often so it feels slightly alien. 

In fact the whole of yesterday evening was in my head as I review the communications I had.  It has become part of my daily routine to sit down after supper and respond to emails from you guys and yesterday I was a little distracted with plans for my journey today.  Creating a real and meaningful dialogue with my readers is my number one priority with this blog so I shelved my thoughts of my journey and focused.  Many of the emails were quick questions requesting more information or web links and I can deal with these quite quickly.  But there are always some that are longer and require much more careful attention and thought.  I had several of these last evening including one from a reader who visits Arran quite often and follows this blog.  As a piece of communication it was written from the heart and read like it had to be written and I immediately appreciated that.  I read it several times before considering my response.  When people take that much time out of their busy lives to give me feedback and connect with what this little virtual space is busy with I am always humbled.  I was very humbled last night and I do hope my reply did justice to the original communication. 

I did have moments today when I focused on communication and, I think, there lay my problem.  I went into my head because the quality of the communication around me was so disappointing.   For me it is all in the faces.  I think it must be easier to frown than it is to smile because I saw very few smiles.  I saw a lot of heads down and a lot of menacing looking frowns.  The worse things for me was when people just ignored other people who were trying to communicate with them.  Many of these people were wearing headphones and looked like they were blocking out the world. 
 
Perhaps this is how we travel these days and perhaps that is the best way to survive it.  Ultimately, I was no better because by the time my plane landed in Southampton I had gone into my head.  That said, I did not forget to thank the cabin staff on my way off the plane.  It is not as simple to say that people failed to polite because it felt more than that.  It felt like we were all closing ourselves off and cocooning ourselves in our own day regardless of what was going on around us.  Living on the isle of Arran is not like that and so I noticed the contrast.  On the island we talk to eat other and seem to smile a lot more.  We seem to have more time for each other and more interest in each other's lives.  When Annie visited last week she really noticed this and has referenced it in her own blog post that she posted yesterday.  It is a really interesting read and shares a different perspective on the island. 

So, I have some things to ponder as I live on the mainland for a while and I expect them to test my thinking a little.  A change of environment should shake us up a bit as new observations and reflections work their magic inside our minds.  All my years teaching means that I have fairly well developed observation skills so let us hope I can find the time to reflect on what I am seeing as Scottish island mum exists in a very different environment. 

Our family has a very special person in our lives called Nikki and on Monday she had a baby girl called Summer. Summer, her mum, dad and sister and brother are visiting Arran in August so we will all meet them then.  There is a story to be told.  Welcome to our lovely world Summer.


Until tomorrow. Xx

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