SCOTLAND CALLING


I was born in Scotland, East Kilbride to be exact, and although I left when I was 6 , I always felt an affinity with the country due to my whole family being scottish, and all my cousins , aunts, and uncles still living there.

So after Hari and I finished the Coast to Coast, I decided to head north. To arran.

My mum was born on the Isle of Bute, and is buried there also, but I have never felt at home there.

It feels like an island past its heyday, with a crumbling facade as you approach from the Wemyss Bay ferry. It holds nothing for me there, apart from the grave of my mother.

Hence I decided to head for the Isle of Arran – an island I knew well from my time living as the head chef on Holy Isle (the island adjacent) where I wrote a good portion of The Natural Mind – Waking Up.

In case you don’t know Holy Isle it is now owned by the buddhists and is a retreat center (also known as the centre for world peace and health!) I was planning to visit but apparently dogs are not allowed, so we just look across the water at it.

I originally planned for Hari and I to do the Arran Coastal Walk, but due to the atrocious weather, decided to sit it out on Arran at a lovely campsite called Middletons Camping and Caravanning Park.

Fast forward 3 weeks and we are still there .

I have never felt such great hospitality and warmth as I do there. The lady who owns it has been very kind to Hari and I, and the time we have spent there has enabled me to launch The Ariana Project properly, without the constant moving every day.

I’m all for movement, but sometimes you need to stop for a moment..especially when you are trying to create a new website !

Hari doesn’t understand and wants to keep walking but I think the rest is good for him …him being seven and a half now!

Where was I ? BREXIt? UNIVERSAL CREDIT?

Oh yes , Universsal credit ! Just before I was cut off from my phone connection I had a conversation with someone from the Uxbridge Universal Credit agency who asked me how my homelesness was going!!

I explained that we had moved to scotland as it was cheaper and wild camping was allowed …

He was very surprised and said that as my home was no longer in uxbridge I would need to update my address, and that I needed to come for an áppointment´

I asked him how he thought a man and his dog could get to uxbridge from Scotland with no money. this didn’t seem of interest to him, and he booked me in …

needless to say, due to having no phone number, and not able to log on to their site (as they require me to enter a code sent to my now disconnected mobile phome) I’m sure they will now cut me off from any support…

Fortunately I am a resilient person and this whole Universal Credit experience was more of an experiment, I have to wonder how people with addictions, mental health problems, abuse , violence, manage to survive on the streets..

If I was not the man I am and very resilient, I think I would feel suicidal by now.

The compassionate society?

Dont make me laugh.

For this reason, people who live on the streets will be a focus of The Ariana Project, and not to give them a home, but to develop resilience, and develop purpose…

TO BE CONTINUED…

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