For this entry I thought I would share some musings and gratefulness that I associate with life on a remote subantarctic island.
This is my fourth stay on this little island, I have been lucky to spend a winter and three summers between 2017-2020 in various wildlife monitoring roles. Now I am back, after a four-year stay back ‘in the real world’. Yeah, we don’t really refer to life here as ‘real-life’ – maybe that is because our life here seems so disconnected and seemingly unaffected from global current affairs, wars, cost-of-living, supermarket choices or traffic jams. But then sometimes – maybe just to confuse whoever we are chatting to – we will refer to life on Macca as, ‘the actual real world’. Perhaps this reflects moments of existentialism or spirituality, as St. Catherine says, “all the way to heaven is heaven”.
To tune into and strip back what makes this island feel like ‘the actual real world’, I think it boils down to presence and community.
The scope of our world experience is much narrower down here, and when the external becomes a bit quieter, when our world is ‘reduced’ in this way, we gain the opportunity for presence. By presence, I am referring to the space for dispositional mindfulness, the ability to focus attention on present-experiences with an open attitude – you know, ‘living in the moment’ stuff. For example, it is very normal for someone to make a radio call in the middle of a Wednesday exclaiming, “All station, all station, Orcas in Buckles Bay NOW!”, and then for everyone (doctor, mechanic, carpenter… you name it…) to drop what they are doing to simply watch and enjoy the grandeur of nature.
Scientists have made links between living with a sense of presence to positive emotions, indicating that practicing dispositional mindfulness increases overall psychological wellbeing. The added layer of communal living forces our reflection of humanity into our daily experience, which elevates these present moments. Sharing the experience of nature’s exquisite beauty with our fellow human helps to consolidate the experience within us, which I think strengthens our ability to be mindful.
For me, when consider the space where I am, a nature reserve, a World Heritage Area, a sub-Antarctic wilderness, I experience feelings of expansive gratitude – something that feels very real.
Mel – Wildlife Ranger, Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service
