The next day was a completely different experience. Having spent the day alone and fasting from dawn to dusk (with none of the great veggie food supplied by Rob or any carrot cake) we spent the majority of the day in the tenttipi telling our stories. After each story anyone who wanted to could make a comment on what they had heard – “I heard a story about………”. It was great to hear what each person thought of the stories they heard.
We’re all on a journey, everyone starting from a different place and everyone going somewhere. Will we all end up in the same place?
The journey home – travelling back to life away from the wilderness. Having spent the week getting to know everyone in an amazing environment, all of a sudden we are heading home to the cities, roads, hustle and bustle and people all travelling to and fro and going on their journeys to somewhere new. What new things will we see and do and what will happen next on our journey of change?
What a glorious day, the clear blues skies showed Knoydart off at its best. It is great to get some quality time to get to know people and myself too! Our lecture around Maslow’s hierarchy has really got me thinking about what we really need and how much we are influenced by media, branding and peer pressure.
In this beautiful peaceful setting, where you can literally hear the leaves fall, it is easy to have ‘thinking time’ and how important it is too; I can hardly believe what has come up for me today. Time to do nothing but think, what a crucial part of life and yet one that I suspect most people don’t afford themselves. I realised a long time ago how short sighted it is not to build in the luxury of time to reflect; why in general do we not do it? Why do we often put it at the bottom of our ‘to do’ list if in fact it is there at all? Are we a nation who doesn’t appreciate the benefits of it as we bury ourselves in consumerism or are we a nation who doesn’t know how to do it? I know, and have seen, the major impact that the process of reflection has both personally and professionally on the colleagues I work with on the Flexible Route to Headship programme. I am however today also aware of the added dimension for me of that reflecting time being done in a very peaceful setting. I wonder how my colleagues would be influenced by an experience like Knoydart, what might it add to the programme?
I am remembering when as a Depute Head Teacher I gave a talk at my year group assembly about the power of reflection and suggested that we had a few minutes to reflect at the assembly. I also remember actually saying to the pupils that they probably thought I was mad, certainly that is what the look on many of their faces was telling me. I wonder if any of them remember that assembly, I wonder if it made any difference. Why don’t I know?
Enough for one night, I can hardly contain myself as time approaches for yet another vegetarian experience!
If you found a pale, motionless body lying in a secluded wood, wrapped in a survival bag, would the fact it had a sign on it saying “I’m not dead” really help?
This is just one of the thoughts that wandered through my head while lying beneath the stand of alder trees that became my solo spot. The sight of a woman in the distance dancing madly is funny, the sight of a body lying motionless might actually scare someone. Wondering what is the best thing to do to avoid scaring the natives and triggering false alarm embarrassment, I decide that a sign probably wouldn’t help. Beside, it feels spookily like tempting fate.
As the wind blows, autumn leaves flutter down, falling on my face. I begin to wonder what it would be like to lie here forever, slowly being covered by leaves, dissipating outwards, becoming part of the living entity that is a forest floor. I idly speculate on what the world would look like if you could take away everything but the life that inhabits it. I imagine it would look like an intricate, sparkling silver web; each life forming a knot in the threads, constantly raveling and unraveling. My cold feet demand my attention again and I think fondly of warm slippers and sticky toffee pudding.
I move, I sit, I doze, I write and I sketch. The day seems long but dusk falls sooner than I expect.
