In conversation with Tamsin Calidas
A secret to share… I have thrown away all my factual books on resilience, bravery, courage and focused intention – and I just keep this extraordinary book “I am an Island’ by my side.
If there is anything you need to know about resilience, courage, inner strength, isolation, getting back in touch with nature and a connection with the essence of life - read this book (if you haven’t already)
And there is the most wonderful thread of the power of friendship, kinship and a sense of belonging that weaves its way through many of the chapters. As a woman whose girlfriends have been instrumental in my mental health and well-being and to be honest my long -term happiness – I so resonated with this honest, raw and intimate memoir.
In 2004 Tamsin Calidas the author of I am an Island, disenchanted with life in London and after a terrible accident moved to a remote Island in the Scottish Hebrides. Her life changed beyond anything she could have imagined, although, she does say at the beginning that she had….
’The dream of living a wilder life – lifting your eyes above the skyline’
Tamsin writes beautifully about the often-tough journey (I know from this from experience) of moving on and letting go “it’s during the notion of transit, of passing from one space to another that your heart opens, and all your dreaming begins” and she speaks about change being ‘fresh sharp and invigorating’.
There are intense moments of personal challenge and growth and she shares how getting almost to breaking point can be a catalyst for the most powerful awakening.
I learnt so much from this book and enjoyed the new edition out in paperback, just as much as the original. We talk a lot about finding ‘purpose’ these days – and what better way to understand that, than someone’s own personal journey to find her calling “It’s an extraordinary moment when you recalibrate and find your compass”.
And, if like me, through lockdown you have sometimes felt isolated, alone, and vulnerable you realise reading this book that experiencing these states can truly be an opportunity for growth and to be aware of how fear can impact ones physical as well as emotional well-being is so important - as Tamsin says “isolation and loneliness can seep into the heart unnoticed, solitude was my everyday condition. And uncertainty is acidic and corrosive, it burns into the connective tissues of your thoughts and eats away at your peace of mind” – powerful words, and I think for many of us, we have actually experienced these feelings over the last year…
And yet, its’ so inspiring to read how Tamsin deals with the solitude and allows nature to hold her and nurture her and how ‘facing my fears and putting trust in the unknown” guided her through.And that “when you have no other distractions you start to quieten into nature”
And when the need for us to take care of our planet and mother earth is calling us with a real sense of urgency, there are wonderful ideas and lesson here about listening in to our own bodies, getting back in touch with nature, having gratitude for what the planet provides and letting nature heal us.
The ability to live with less and to work in harmony with nature is beautifully captured in Tamsin’s words “Now I live with so little, it’s hard to know what’s missing... and how strangely full life feels when stripped back to its essence – the land providing the basic needs”
This memoir is such a gift to women of all ages – and particularly those who really do want to dance to a different tune!