Number 7 has always
carried a special meaning in my life, popping up in unexpected
moments as a sign that something good was about to happen. I will
never forget, there I was at the boarding gate in Copenhagen waiting
for my connection to the Faroe Islands when I saw on the screen that my
flight number was 777... fate was sending me a message that as much
as I was out of my mind when I decided to take a leap of faith by
giving up my whole life based on a one-way plane ticket in my inbox
and a vague telephone conversation about a job waiting for me in a
place I had never heard before, everything was going to OK. I have to
admit, for a brief moment I did question that when the captain before
landing announced that due to the short runway space he was going to
have to use the breaks harder than you would expect on any other
flight whilst looking out the window there was no land to be seen
only the ocean beneath... but before I could get to the end of my
prayers (as I always say, I am too young to die with a VERY long
bucket list full of experiences still to be ticked off) the plane
touched ground and I heard 'welcome to the Faroe Islands' on the
speaker. Like a little girl stepping into a new and unknown world, I
took a moment to stop on my way off-boarding and take the first
encounter with my new life all in. The sun was gently stroking my
face (I caught one of those lucky moments), the freshness of the air
amazed me instantly, vibrant green grass was covering the mountains
of rocks on the left and there was the ocean on the right as far as
eyes could see. A plane full of passengers just got in and yet there
was this echoing quietness and stillness all around. And then a scene
from a TV show called 'Men in trees' flashed back in my mind when
Marin Frist from New York, wearing high heels arrived to the remote
village of Elmo, Alaska and stepped into a muddy puddle getting off
her plane (I wasn't wearing high heels but I had two of my favourite
pairs carefully packed in my bag. It very soon became clear that I
would probably not use them much when I saw a tractor parked on the
side of the runway at the airport that only had two boarding
gates...). I couldn't help but wonder what on earth had I signed up
for?!
And here are the
brutally honest facts: I live in a single room (I haven't slept in a
single bed since I was at uni in Denmark) in a house with one
bathroom (shower and toilet in one space), one kitchen (there wasn't
even a chopping board when I moved in) and one washing machine to be
shared among 7 of us. And when I say 7 of us (not such a lucky number
in this case), I mean me and 6 other men above the age of 40... one
who I hardly ever see sober, one who I hardly ever see not being high
'on life' (who also proposed me joining him and his girlfriend in a
threesome if I was up for some fun), one who is under strong
medication to control his mood swings (and has his mother coming over
to clean his room regularly), one gaming addict whose loud speaker I
would love to throw out the window, one on long-term sick leave and
there was my safe heaven not only keeping everyone in check but
taking me under his wings, another crazy enough Hungarian who arrived
a few weeks before me (he moved out since, leaving me alone with the
battle to try to keep up basic hygiene levels in the house cleaning
up shit after people, literally.. ). After living in my studio
apartment on my own, in the comfort of a fully equipped household in
Nottingham, now I am paying the same amount of rent for this new,
rough and minimalist life experience. To top up the challenging
living situation, I arrived to the Faroes with no laptop (it gave in
2 days before my flight) and a phone with a broken speaker so there
were no movie nights or Youtube for Adel, just an old school mp3
player and two books for entertainment for a month that initially
felt like eternity. Back to basics in the deepest sense of the
word...a scarf became the yoga mat for my morning pilates, I mash
potatoes with a fork, what I can cook depends on what kind of
groceries make it to the island on shipping day, no survival goodie
parcels from home without VAT paid on them and certainly no smuggling
of home-made palinka through customs (perks of living in a non-EU
country), one single shop where you can buy alcohol (it closes at
5.30pm on weekdays and 2pm on Saturday), coffee shops with no
plant-based milk available (vegan options when eating/drinking out
are nearly non-existent), and Sundays when life stops and nothing is
open. Is it intimidating to all the sudden find yourself in 'stone
age', in what it feels like being away from modern civilization? You
bet!
But you know what? I am
very grateful for this journey because it has kicked me right out of
my comfort zone more than I ever thought it was possible. It has made
me re-evaluate a lot of things within myself. It has made me
recognise the need to learn to unlearn certain ways, beliefs, mental
and emotional programmings that I had been living all my life with
before I got here. And let me tell you, as overwhelming that can be
at first, it is not only refreshing but extremely liberating. The
moment you manage to detach yourself from all the attachments to your
comfort zone, minimalism becomes surprisingly comfortable because you
realise you need a lot less to feel alive than you think. All you
need is to find YOU under the layers of 'stuff' (both emotional and
materialistic) that you have subconsciously grown around you. Layers
that we tend to hold onto even if they don't serve us. Toxic layers
that we don't recognise to be toxic until we are made to let go of
them. Stuff that distract us from living in the now.
Here I am at the age of
28 with no settled life, partner nor kids, starting from zero in a
new country for the 5th time, living like a hippie in
isolation on a remote place (where the biggest action of the week is
to decide which day to do my laundry), making pizzas for a living.
According to the expectations of modern society, I may seem like I am
running behind on life's schedule because we ought to get a good
education, get a well-paid job, buy a house and a car, acquire social
status, meet our 'better half', get married, have kids and die. But
where is finding true happiness and inner peace within ourselves
detached from external factors and living life with a passion among
those expectations? How could we ever live a fulfilled life if we
don't know how to fulfill ourselves on the first place? And how could we ever
fulfill ourselves if we fear a phase of solitude focusing on
soul-searching?
Yes, my life is as far
from settled as it could possibly be but through this journey of
self-discovery I am coming to feel the most settled within myself
that I have ever been. Yes, I haven't found my partner for life yet
but looking at the patterns of my past relationships I came to
realise that subconsciously I always chose 'projects' (people to be
fixed) rather than focusing on doing the fixing-up on me so I decided
to use this place and time to put the 'under maintenance'
label on myself instead. Yes, another move got added to the list of
my wanderlust lifestyle (some may describe that as me being a runaway
bride not being able to settle in one place) but I would rather
embrace the consequences of following my intuition in search of happiness than to settle
into a life driven by the fear of change. Yes, my living situation is
far from ideal but that is the price I am willing to pay for the life
lessons teaching me that when your intention is stronger than the
circumstances you find yourself in, you will always find a way to
make it work. And yes, I am making pizzas for a living but for the
first time, I love going into work because I love what I do, I have
an amazing boss that I can look up to both on a professional and
personal level and I am part of a team that makes me feel respected,
valued and included.
The island became my
soul retreat place. An experience that people in the western world
pay large amounts of money for in one of those soul retreat
facilities with the aim to reconnect with themselves, heal, find
inner peace, learn to live in mindfulness and gratitude and discover
their purpose in this existence. And here I am surrendered by
breathtakingly beautiful nature, feeling like Alice in wonderland
everytime I see a rainbow on the sky, feeling more alive and happier
than ever before simply because the island life triggered a shift in
my mindset. I know my situation is quite exceptional and don't get me
wrong I am not saying everyone should leave their comfortable life
behind and move to a remote place to experience the wonders it can do
to the spirit but my message for today is this: No matter where you
are and how busy your life is, take time out for yourself. Just like
you take time off to go on holiday, take time off for that inner
journey, to check in with yourself, regularly. Nourish your bohosoul
so you can shine and share your light because the world needs it!🦋
Happy Tuesday x
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