As an adult, I found myself drawn to islands and loving the island life. This attraction was not born into this human body for this body was born in the middle west a space of farms and fields and acres of woodlands.
This love of island life seeped into my soul over ten years on a small island surrounded by sand and water and a different brand of human spirit, one that welcomed but did not conform. With time, I became a welcoming non-conformer, an Islander, and I no longer felt like a mainlander.
Living an island life, I learned to love the ocean and the sand and the power of nature over man and the power of man over its own mind.
And, over those ten years, I used the bridge that connected the island to the mainland. I used it only when necessary but it was necessary for the happiness of my family. The bridge allowed me to earn a living, it allowed me to escape when that powerful nature came to call. The bridges connected my island to the mainland but did not take away the island’s charm or independence. All the bridge did was make my life as an islander easier and more secure.
I know a bridge causes conflict for islanders. By definition, an island is free from others but a bridge is a tether allowing mainlanders access whenever they want to call. The Islanders I knew couldn’t wait for the mainlanders to leave until, the next hurricane, the next water drought, the next new school needed to be built.
Over the decades I have seen this on every island I’ve called home—Islanders wanting to be different and apart. This is the reality of their status as an island. They are separated by water and the knowledge that they are always surrounded, not by enemies but by mother nature and all that she has to give and ruthlessly take away.
We have chosen to live on these slivers of land and create cultures defined by the isolation and challenges created by the sea but there are no more unchartered waters or lands to be explored and those who come to our islands are not to be endured but embraced.
In our society, an island needs to be bridged for the happiness and security of the souls living on their shores. This bridge can be a four-lane highway or it can be a drawbridge but, for an island to flourish, it must stay connected in a way that makes everyone happy.
In our current global world, we have many island states who are proud but struggling. Do not let your feisty natures get in the way of your happiness and separate you from your soul families.
Take a breath, look around and decide what kind of bridge you want to maintain so that you can still be Islanders but have the freedom to flourish and be secure on your island home.
PS: UK, I hope you will decide to remain in the EU, you now have the opportunity to make this small adjustment in your current path so that you working for of all your citizens, not just a few. Maintain that well built and functioning bridge to the mainland. Do not be left out alone. Your soul families are grumpily awaiting to embrace you and welcome you back into the warmth of their mainland homes.