Finding a way home
Rediscovering relational ways of living
On Inis Maan, the middle Aran island, I walk around the wild coast, and turn inland to walk across the island, over its hilly centre to the only pub for a cup of tea situated on the other side, and then onto the ferry to take me home.
As I turn from the coast I see and feel the entanglement and integration of humans and nature. I love how the walls and lanes follow the undulations and natural curves of the land. There is nothing linear here.
In past years, the rocky ground was cleared and the stones used to make the walls you see in the picture. This created wind breaks and micro-climates for potatoes and vegetables to grow. Sand and seaweed was laid on bare rocks to create soil, and seaweed is still used today as the main fertiliser.
Nicholas Rose, sociologist says that one thing that makes humans unique from other animals, is the capacity we have to live in the most diverse environments. Other animals adapt to their environments, and adapt the environments to their needs; beavers are a good example. Yet only humans have managed to adapt to live in such diverse environments; in freezing conditions and in deserts, in rainforests and in huge urban cities.
Humans have scaffolded their lives, making and finding tools and technologies, shaping the environment to create niches for living. Domesticating and living alongside other animals and plants. We have always been totally inter-dependent and relational beings. Without the scaffolding of clothes and shelter, tools and other human and non-human beings, and the natural environment; our capacity to survive is zero.
Walking these lanes and on the wild coastline, I wonder why we have chosen to undermine this interdependent and relational way of living?
The track that winds through the centre of the photo, passes potato drills, and reminds me of the possibility of living in more harmony and celebrate our interdependencies, rather than live in the fantasy that we are separate and in control. My experience is that we humans have become lost, to ourselves and to our place in the world.
The winding track became a metaphor for me, that humanity needs to re-discover a relational way of being, and find its way home.
Wonderful piece of writing and perspective. Completely agree people have become increasingly isolated and disconnected from eachother and the world we live in.
You explore the tension between belonging and alienation, highlighting how home is both a place and a process. Your reflection on the journey back to self is a poignant reminder that home isn't static—it's a dynamic, evolving experience.