Aug 3, 2010

The journey from Aberdeen to Kirkwall


The Ferry from Aberdeen to Kirkwall is quite new and comfortable.
It is smaller than the ferry between Gotland and the mainland.
But the waters it travels through are way rougher. I get filled of lust to come back a windy November journey....
I leave my computer and rucksack in the lounge to go out on deck to say goodbye to Aberdeen. When the ship leaves the harbour I get filled by a feeling of being at home.
Coming back to the lounge my rucksack is gone. Security has taken it and stored it in the luggage room. "No unattended luggage". I am puzzled. I left it and felt safe as there were people around. And I realize I am an islander by heart. Taking for granted that people are to be trusted.

Looking for information I get taken by surprize to find the Metasaga leaflet on display on the ship. My name is on the second page, as the initial inspirer for the concept!

I come to talk with the couple next to me. Audrey & Alan Findlay from Aberdeen left Orkney 40 years ago and are going back to visit family. They had been to Gotland! I realize again that one trait of being an islander is the relational conversations. Finding out how we are connected through different relationships.

I feel at home aboard a ship. After a couple of hours, time starts to dissolve. You enter a floating state where all ambitions to do something useful fades away. Suddenly we arrive to the harbour of Kirkwall, just when I thought I'd could continue for much longer.

Questions come up
  • When, or in what situations, do you feel really at home?
  • If you think of a harbour as metaphor for the place you feel at home, what kind of harbour would it be?
  • In what ways do you feel differently being on a sea voyage in comparison to other means of transportation? Going by car, train, bus or air? What does being on a sea voyage create in you?
  • How do you feel safe onboard



No comments: