Nick Welsh, Shop Manager of The Iona Community Welcome Centre on the Isle of Iona, shares her monthly book recommendations. They are inspired by stories of items lost and found.
January is a quiet month on Iona but we still get a few visitors braving the winter weather and ferry chaos. One such visitor came by the shop. She was staying on the nearby Isle of Erraid for a week. She bought herself a cup of our wonderful coffee and took herself to seating area outside the shop to enjoy it. And while enjoying the peace and tranquillity of Iona. A week later we had a message on the Welcome Centre answer phone from her. She asked if she had left a brightly coloured scarf outside the shop. She had not. But in the beautiful serendipity that is Iona, and the neighbouring islands, I knew exactly where it was.
The previous day I had visited Iona Community Member, Jan Sutch-Pickard on nearby Mull and noticed a brightly coloured scarf tied to the railings outside her house. Jan had found it in her front garden and tied it to the railings in case anyone was looking for it. Lo and behold this was the very scarf that the phone message was about. I was able to post the scarf back to our shop visitor, with many thanks on her part.
Loss is a part of life
Loss is a small word that encapsulates the many varied losses we experience, individually and as communities. Sometimes we even lose ourselves in the madness of the world. But through the act of searching, while we may not find what we were looking for, we often find other worthwhile things. Our shop visitor lost her scarf, which was found, and she also found the kindness of strangers.
In her book Lost People (Wild Goose Publications) Margaret Elphinstone creates a story of how the kindness of strangers and the healing power of animals and plants can help a young child can find themselves again.
The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris is a beautifully illustrated book of poems celebrating wildlife, a book of ‘singing in dark times’.
Outside the Safe Place (Wild Goose Pubs) by Anne Muir is an oral history of the early years of the Iona Community, a brilliant example of how when people come together they can find and create great things.
You can order directly from the Iona Community Shop for mail order. Contact Nick for more information: [email protected]
Photo: The lost and then found scarf. Credit: N.Welsh
Experience the Solitude of Iona in Spring
Join us at Iona Abbey in early spring for some peace and solitude. You’ll get a sense of having the island to yourself and have a bedroom to yourself at the Abbey, if you would like it. Single room occupancy now available for stays from 15th March – 15th April. Find more information and book your place here.
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