Finding 'Home' in Unexpected Places
In our latest episode, Tony and I discussed the ‘dangerous dance’ of community. As I’ve been contemplating our conversation this past week, I reflect back on the places that have surprised me with the unexpected treasure of authentic community.
Below are a few short excerpts from my book ‘Portraits of Iona’ about a very dear community I encountered while living in the Iona hostel on the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland. The original illustration (shown above) that accompanies the first excerpt now lives on the walls of the hostel itself, gifted back to the owner John; a man who has devoted much of his life to welcoming and caring for strangers. John provides not only a wonderful place for folks to lay their head, but he has created a space that invites guests to enter into the warmth of community; the warmth of feeling ‘home.’
During these past fourteen months traveling abroad,
I longed to reconnect with the idea of home
Not ‘home’ as in the city or house you live in,
but ‘home’ as in the place where you feel safe and held and known.
The place that is made up of contentment and simple joys and where, bit by bit,
breathing comes easier and you realize that you can be exactly who you are,
and that you are whole and loved and beloved.
Hmmm... sounds like heaven.
I find ‘home’ on Iona;
in the warmth and friendship and encouragement of the people who live
and work and flow through the simple green building in this drawing.
I love so many things here:
the long, weathered wood table where we eat our meals,
the comfy, inviting couches under the big glass windows overlooking the sea,
and especially the community of people that surround me.
I hope you someday have the opportunity
to find yourself burrowed into one of these couches,
having a cup of tea and a conversation,
and encountering unexpected grace.
Encountering a bit of heaven.
___
In February I had my private retreat in the bothy, but now, in November, I am living in the hostel with a group of women, seven of us in total. We joke that we are from the nunnery, all but one of us single, cloistered together on this holy isle. I have met many amazing ladies during my travels, but on Iona, this just seems magnified. These beautiful, inspirational women share their art and their lives with me. We talk about fledgling projects and our hardest challenges, past and present. We peer into the future, sharing tentative hopes buoyed by encouraging words and kindness.
Marc, who works in the hostel, says that Iona allows his layers to shed. I want that too. I want to shed the things I’ve needlessly tied to myself over the past years. Sometimes I fear I need the title of ‘artist’ or ‘illustrator’ to give me worth.
My time on Iona has helped confront and then quiet these fears. They will always shadow me, but they don’t have the power they used to. I am slowly learning to be confident in who I am as an artist, and step into a creative space that embraces abundance not scarcity.
Re-reading these words reminds me that we can find ‘home’ in unexpected places.
So stay open… be willing to enter into the dance…
you just might encounter a bit of heaven.
