Island People
I must've been a self-confessed Islandholic for at least the last several lifetimes. There's something about oceanic expanses of water and sandy beaches that I have never been able to resist, ever since I was knee-high to a flea; large land masses just don't cut it for me. How strange, then, that I've lived most of this lifetime in a land-locked city, a situation that needs to be remedied as soon as possible.
Therefore, if any of you own an island and need a house-sitter while you're off jet-setting or clinching yet another business deal, I'd gladly offer my services plus those of my catts, two of whom are excellent mousers. The rest are just fraidycatts...
Apart from the beaches and sunsets and the susurrus of the waves, the other thing I love about islands is the way every day has a holiday texture to it. A lot of that has to do with the locals, whom I call Island People, no matter where in the world they are. They seem to be a whole different breed of humanity altogether... open, friendly, laid-back and very "manyana". (I know, phonetic spelling, this silly page won't let me use a tilde!)
Island life is largely about taking things as they come and enjoying the day, which revolves around children, family, community, eating, drinking, dancing, music, the sea. The fact that they are separated from the mainland by an expanse of sea seems to inure Island People to the vicissitudes of mainland life. Nothing is important enough to cause an all-out stress-attack; nothing is so urgent it cannot be put off till tomorrow.
They instinctively know something that we haven't yet learnt...that each day is a new day, and deserves to be lived for what it is, and not rushed through in the race to tomorrow.
They have watched the sea turn from calm to stormy and then calm again... just as life does, as love does. They see the parallels and understand them and accept them at a deep, cellular level. Our mainland concerns have no meaning here...they pale into the insignificance of nothingness. These people seem born to an innate island wisdom; a wisdom that empowers them to live life simply and fully, a day at a time. A wisdom we city-slickers and mainland dwellers would do well to emulate.
Me? I'm making a start on my long-deferred conversion to "Island People" status by instantly trashing all my deadlines. As of now, my official mantra is "manyana"!!!