Oh my goodness how emotional do I feel? We find ourselves at the end of a remarkable year and an even more remarkable project. Blogging every day for a year was the challenge and this now becomes the achievement. It has to be one of the proudest achievements of my life. This is not just because the challenge has been met but more about what has developed from the challenge. I could never have known so much would develop from a little blog and I could never have anticipated the interest it would draw. This interest blossomed very quickly into a dialogue between myself and the readers of the blog and that, I believe, is the most powerful aspect of the whole project.
I thought it would make a fitting end to look back on the year and focus on some of the highlights. But before that I would just say that the overwhelming outcome of looking back through the blog is the realisation that life ebbs and flows all by itself. Those of you with religious faith that worships a god will probably put this ebbing and flowing down to that and I respect that. I don't, however, worship a god. I believe that our destiny is largely in our own hands and we are ultimately responsible for our own lives. That said, the spiritual side of me has long since felt that other powers are at work mainly drawn from our natural world and the science that underpins that. I am not sure it matters where the belief lies but what does matter is that we understand that our lives will always ebb and flow and it is our response to those shifting tides that make us who we are.
Scottish island mum began as a simple idea. I had dabbled with writing on and off for years but lacked the necessary discipline to take it anywhere. Writing something every day for a year seemed liked a good step forward and I am not sure that it was any more complicated than that. So back in January the project started and has done nothing but go from strength to strength since those fledgling days and I find myself in a completely new space at the end of the project.
This new space that I know inhabit is based on the experiences from the year but also my deliberations and reflections on those experiences. That is what the blog does as it gives you a space to pause, reflect and think out loud. I would say at this point that I am not sure we make enough time for these most valuable of actions. Life in the 21st century is so busy that we rarely make the time to reflect and I do think that is a missing aspect of our lives.
Looking back through the year I have tried to focus on highlights that would not have existed if it were not for Scottish island mum. She worked her own very real magic at certain stages in the year but this time I was ready for her. In providing a space to reflect I could learn much more quickly the lessons from the experiences and change direction as I needed to.
Without Scottish island mum there would not have been -
The need to create a space to write in and the birth of the hen hut in January would not have been envisioned.
The transformation required for a clapped out summer house to become a little haven where nothing but creativity can blossom.
The sense that growing willow on the property could be something that we could be using productively by the end of the year.
A space to reflect on home school and why we began this journey ten years earlier and where it had taken all of us.
A connection with an old friend, the lovely Di, out of a disconnection of the island from power for a week when Arran went dark.
A discovery and review of the work of Hannah Frank and the connection with her niece with who I share so many perspectives on life.
So many butterflies in my life that carried the hopes of so many on their wings and also led me down a more committed route with my work with international charities.
An opening event for the Hen Hut that brought new friendships both real and virtual.
The seed of a new web site that focused on all things positive in the world.
The launch of Molly's blog Conservation Stories which makes such an important contribution to our world.
The discovery of prayer flags and the sharing with so many including two very special nieces that went on to raise their own money for the Butterfly Tree charity.
A feature article in a national newspaper about Scottish island mum and a ridiculously large photograph of me that was actually taken in a pub car park in Portsmouth.
A fully documented visit to the Isle of Eigg and the meeting of a lady who lived in a time gone by.
A realisation about how right the inhabitants of the Isle of Eigg are about how to live their lives.
A lifetime ambition to be realised as a piece of my work was published on Waverly Fitzgerald's site Living in Season.
A necessary sharing of grief as it featured the year on far too many occasions.
A chance to write my own dedication to my beloved Paul who I will miss until my last breath.A sharing of the experience that is the island 'Highland Games' standing beside my soul sister the lovely Angie.
An opportunity to write a dedication to each of my four children and to truly understand what makes them unique.
The inclination to try a rewilding challenge and to document how it changed my whole perspective on life and how I live it.
An approach from the United Nations to begin working for them by using my emerging skills in writing to affect new thinking and change in places that are lost in our world.
The launch of One soul many hearts providing a sharing platform for all things good and positive in the world.
The chance to share coppicing our first willow crop and taking it through to 'Whimsical Willow' with a real sense of family pride.
The opportunity to tease out some thinking and secure the name for Buds and Blooms the new wedding flower business for 2014.
A chance to 'speak' via email to people from all over the world who all have a stake in Scottish island mum.
The opportunity to take up roles in UNICEF and now Save the Children as well (hot off the press) to work as an activist and use my skills in writing to make a real difference.
The sense that I now know exactly who I am and what my role is in life from this point on.
That is quite a list by anyone's standards so you can probably feel the emotion building in me as I begin to think about signing off. In true Scottish island mum style lets us take a gentle peek at the future as she sees it today.....
Scottish island mum hopes to -
Concentrate heavily on her work with UNICEF and Save the Children to start to make a real difference on national and international platforms as requested to do so.
Build a brand new Scottish island mum that offers a lifestyle blog sprinkled with magic dust home grown on the island - the link will be posted here as soon as it is live.
Get back to storytelling as part of Scottish island mum and beyond.
Be a far more compassionate and much quieter human being.
Get pregnant again (OK, this one is a joke to check you are still with me).
Help as many people as I can through my Kindness project including encouraging others to consider the place of kindness in their lives.
Take my very recent experience in 'soul walking' some place new but no idea at the moment where.....
Be the best person I can possibly be.
All that is left now is to say a huge and very genuine thank you to all of you who have stuck with the project as it ebbed and flowed. Your friendship and support throughout the entire journey has made it what is has become and what it can still become in the future. Those of you that know me well (which is probably all of you) will know that I am mindful to dedicate achievements beyond myself and there is one person who is the most obvious person to dedicate this entire project to.
I dedicate Scottish island mum in its entirety to my beloved late father. He would be so proud of this little project.
It has been a complete honour. xx
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