I am not sure time exists on Eigg, at least not in the way we have grown to view it. I have no idea what time it is and I see the whole concept completely differently on this tiny island. I have no schedule so that helps to view time differently but I have also slept the best I have slept in years in my little cocoon. I like that you can hear nature so well through the thin wooden shell and so when we have an almighty downpour, as we did last night, you fear you might be washed into the sea. Then, when you are sleeping, you dream of the ark floating away over and over again. You are somehow more connected with the outside world when you live in a wooden structure and it suits me well. If you layer that with time determined by light and dark I think you just about have it right. It is balanced.
I am not absolutely sure what is going on with earwigs though as they appear to inhabit every tiny space within this wooden cocoon. They are not my favourite creatures but I like ticks even less and found one of them in my bed last night before it found me! They all get rounded up and released back into their world outside mine and balance is, once more, restored. I have a pair of hooded crows who entertain me in the evening as they dance along the hillside looking for evening grubs before taking flight to the cliffs to settle in for their night. In the morning I toss my toast crumbs onto the steps of the cocoon and my adorable female blackbird hops over for breakfast. Her partner still keeps his distance preferring the morning worms to toast.
These relationships are so easily and naturally established if you are living simply because I think you are somewhat closer to the resident wildlife. Today we saw two pairs of Buzzards floating on the thermals and then hovering to hunt and even they didn't seem so far away. If you plan to come to Eigg you should consider keeping your accommodation simple and strip back your needs to the very basic because the rewards will stay with you forever.
Molly and I walked to the tea rooms today. Walking on Eigg is all about hills until you reach the top of the plateau and then it is flat for miles. The problem is that you have to reach the plateau first and that is not easy for me. I looked at the walk ahead and knew it was going to take a huge effort but also knew I would get to the top. I did get to the top but it was not achieved quickly or with very much grace. Once up you are rewarded with truly captivating views and a flat walk straight to the tea room. The tea room is a house with a Mongolian yurt in the garden. You knock at the door and a lovely lady answers and you put your order in. In our case you then dart under the umbrella to avoid a heavy rain shower. You meet the local, well rounded dog and a stray chicken that then takes cover under the hedge to see out the shower. Tea is actually a wonderful pot of coffee and two wholemeal scones each with homemade jam. Suddenly the walk is very worthwhile.
Over the road from the tea room is a visitor centre which looks like it was created in the 1970s but that is the charm of it. Working your way round the exhibits you realise that you have noticed a great deal about the island already and that is rather satisfying. Next door is a swap shop. You just leave stuff there that you no longer want and pick things up that you do want. Both places are completely unmanned and work perfectly. This is the essence of the community life on the island. The islanders do not over complicate their lives and, coming here, you realise how much we are all capable of making our lives unnecessarily complicated. The issues of freedom and security come to mind as defining factors that allow the Eigg islanders to live the way they do. They do not have the security issues the rest of us might have and they, therefore, have far more freedom. They have freedom to create lives how they want them to be created rather than lives that are dictated by wider society. This thought process can only ever end one way. The people of Eigg have got it right and the rest of us have got it wrong. We have lost our way in the world by deliberately over complicating the way we live and it would be very hard to undo that now. I have believed this for a while and Arran teaches you that in its own way but Eigg really makes the point in a way that you can not avoid.
So, if you take my earlier point about how easily and immediate the connections are with wildlife and add in the way the islanders live a picture is emerging of a very different way of living. A way of life that is dictated more by the natural environment than the latest technology. A world that is shared with all species in a balanced and cherishing manner and a way of 'being'. Beyond Eigg I think we all carve out a 'way of life' but on Eigg you create a 'way of being' and they are very different concepts.
Visiting the Isle of Eigg is thus life affirming and life changing in the same breath and the experience is to be recommended. I already live on a Scottish island but Arran is very different from Eigg and would never offer the learning that is generated from being here. Here it is a process of unlearning as you strip life back to the basics and see what contentment is really about. It is about sitting on top of a hill watching the evening sky or walking for over an hour to get a cup of good coffee. It is about a newly constructed sense of time and a connection with the natural world that is deeply rewarding and full of wonder. Above all, it is a complete and utter privilege.
Until tomorrow. xx
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