Isle of View
by Steve Wiggs
It had been a magical day, perfect in every way. As we stepped off the small passenger ferry back onto ‘terra firma’ my twelve year-old son and I agreed that it had been one of the best days of our lives. As we walked up the dock I heard the familiar ‘I love you, Dad’ that comes when my son is full of gratitude and feels his connection with life. I responded in kind with ‘I love you, Son.’ I too was full of gratitude and still basking in the afterglow of our great adventure together.
We had just spent the day exploring the rugged and remote Blasket Islands off the southwest coast of Ireland. The sun was shining, the air was cool, the sea was blue, and our attention was hooked early and held easily as we stepped into this spectacular place. Flung like green emeralds in the wild Atlantic, the islands offered us view after view of picture book images.
We had climbed to the top of the largest island and sat for a while on a carpet of green grass and surveyed the scene. Wave after wave crash against steep craggy cliffs, filling the air with dispersed sea and loud echoes. Each wave seemed to be saying ‘look at me, look at me.’ All manner of birds hovered effortlessly, flying on the wind currents above. Curious and playful seals looked back at us intently, as if waiting for our command. We discovered that if we waved our arms in circles the seals would dive and resurface in unison as if they somehow knew what we were asking them to do.
We sat and watched as the breeze continued to tickle our sun-warmed faces. The rhythm and pulse of life was palpable here. Everything seemed so connected, so perfect, so wild, so free. Words were unnecessary. Past and future were far away. There existed no boundaries, just our simple immersion into this place. My son began to take some pictures and then put his camera away stating, ‘it’s no use – there’s just no way to capture this.’ I smiled and nodded in agreement. ‘Just be here now,’ I thought. ‘Just be here now, in this place.’
As I watched the beauty, I was also paying attention to the temptation within. I could feel the temptation to think about what was happening somewhere else. Like a toggle switch, my attention was one moment on this place of immense beauty and connection, and the next moment sorting things out for the hours and days ahead. And even that ’sorting out’ somehow seemed OK. I was grateful that my mind had directed us to this place, and that it helped sort out the logistics and mechanics of getting on the ferry, but I was also happy to relieve it of it’s job for now. I was happy to just enjoy being here, connected to something so immense and beautiful. I was happy to have this particular and profound view of life.
Yes, it was truly a magical day. It was as if something large, very large, was saying ‘I see you! Welcome home, thank you for coming and I love you.’ And that was simply all there was too it. My mind did that toggle thing again and began to wonder – what if we were that ’something large’ that was hooking our attention and gently mesmerizing us throughout the day? And what if our own waking dreams gave us the best possible view of life? What if, indeed?
All I really know is that we both felt very large in that place with the inspiring view. And quite often my thoughts return there and I can hear the echoes —’Isle of View, Dad.’ And I smile and reply ‘Isle of View, Son.’ And so it goes, Isle of View. We never left you.