When most university students spend the last weeks of their summer holiday finishing up their summer jobs and enjoying the last warm days in picnics with a bunch of friends and a bottle of wine, I spent my last holiday week doing something totally different. I headed to a windy and rainy island in England to search God and a peace of mind with 20 middle-aged or already retired people from my parish. A week with no makeup, Instagram or basically anything to do might not sound like an ideal vacation for a twentysomething city girl, but it turned out that it was just what I needed.
Day 1
I wake up in the morning and realize the Morning Prayer has just begun and I’ve missed it. Good start. As I’ve come here with my parish on a sort of pilgrimage, I feel bad for being already absent from the service on the first day. Although, I have to admit that as a not-so-religious person I can’t say that I’m too sorry, especially when I know that there will be plenty more of these services to come, namely every morning and every evening. This is Holy Island, after all. A tidal island on the Northumberland coast of UK known for its monastery, set up by St. Aidan in the 7th century. Nowadays this place runs around religion as hundreds of thousands of tourists flock here every year, most of whom come to visit the priory ruins and find holiness for their life. There are three different churches in this village and the Anglican St. Mary’s Church which we will be going to has services at least three times a day, year round. Our group has come here to spend a week in a small and modest retreat house, Marygate House, to explore the Anglican ways and this holy place. My goal, however, is not so much to devour in religion, but to calm down and relax away from social media and everyday life in general. Maybe I could even find some peace of mind and perspective into my life.
Day 2
This morning I actually do make it to both services – morning prayer and communion. I attended last evening’s evensong service, too, but I notice that I still haven’t gotten into the right state of mind. Everything the priest says is just about to bore me to death and I can’t wait to get out to explore the island.
I do find some peace of mind, though, at the beach and the dunes to which we hike after breakfast. The scenery is breathtaking and while trying your best not to fall over in the slippery sand or fall off a cliff, there’s really no time to think about everyday life’s challenges. Suddenly I even find myself singing a hymn out loud. First I’m about to stop but then I figure that singing while hiking is an even harder challenge for my fitness (isn’t this exactly what Beyoncé’s father made her do as a child?) so I decide to sing on. I could, of course, sing something else but somehow Britney Spears doesn’t really seem to fit in here.
Later in the afternoon, we visit the observation tower from which you can see most of the island and its surrounding areas. The view is stunning and the there’s no entrance fee so it is definitely worth going to. We also decide to visit the famous ruins of the Priory of Lindisfarne, one of the most important sites of early Christianity in England. It is incredible to think that hundreds of years ago in this remote place there have been monks climbing up and down these stairs of which there are now only few stones left.
Day 3
I skip the morning church as I did yesterday evening, too. This pilgrimage is not going great. Instead, I spend the day with worldly things. In the morning I explore the Lindisfarne Centre, which holds an interactive exhibition on the history of the island. I feel like a kid in a candy store pushing all the buttons there are to be pushed and eagerly doing all the drawing activities, probably meant for visitors at least half my age. My very adult spiritual holiday is not turning out exactly as I had planned.
In the afternoon I visit all the stores in the island (which are not many) and buy a few things to take home with me. One of them is a semi-spiritual CD. Phew! At least I’ve done something appropriate today.
Day 4
In the morning we make a three hour walk around half the island through a beach to which we can’t see an end. The wind is hurting my ears, I smell seaweed and I absolutely love every moment of it. I feel more at peace than I have in a long time. I decide that when I get home I need to buy a pair of good, sturdy walking boots and go out in the nature regularly.
In the afternoon I try a local cafeteria, the Pilgrim Cafe, which might just be the cutest little coffee shop I’ve ever seen with its polka dot table cloths and mix-and-match furniture. The cafe has a free Wi-Fi but I don’t feel the faintest need to check my Facebook or Instagram feed. How refreshing to take a week off from all social media! The cake named after the island’s other famous saint, St. Cuthbert, tastes good but too sweet as do all the cakes I’ve tasted here. Nevertheless, I also end up buying a scoop of heavenly chocolate ice cream from the Fudge Shop next door. I’ll probably gain at least five pounds from all the sweets I’m eating on this trip.
Day 5
Today I visit the Lindisfarne castle. Built in the era of Henry VIII, it has been in use into the 20th century until it became property of National Trust, which made it a historical site and a tourist attraction. The castle itself is pretty, but I get one of the most meaningful experiences of the week in its balcony when someone below starts playing bagpipes. It is a beautiful, sunny day and looking over the village while listening to this wonderful music, I remember again why I keep coming back to this island. There is something special in here. Peace that I haven’t found anywhere else. It feels impossible to feel any kind of hurry or stress in an island that is so rurally beautiful and really doesn’t offer much activities expect going out and exploring.
Day 6
We attend the Parish Communion this morning with, apparently, the rest of the village since the church is absolutely packed. I’m positively surprised – the sermon is funny and the hymns could be from a musical. I wish we had more happy hymns like these and that people would dare to laugh out loud at the church in Finland, too.
In the afternoon I visit the Pilgrim Cafe again and this time I actually make use of the Wi-Fi and check my Facebook feed for the first time in a week. One of my goals for this week was to get rid of checking my iPhone every five minutes and I’ve kept to that and now when I check it I realize that I’ve missed absolutely nothing. The most exciting thing seems to be one of my acquaintances threatening to unfriend everyone who mentions the stadium concerts of a certain rapper again. Somehow, after spending a week concentrating on totally different things and having discussions like I had today with one of our group members about her becoming a widow six months ago after 54 years of marriage, these kind of petty arguments that people have on Facebook really couldn’t interest me less. I’ve gotten so much perspective into my life this week, exactly like I had hoped for. Before I felt like I had to check my feed multiple times a day so that I won’t miss anything important, but now I understand that if this is all I’ve missed then I haven’t really missed anything at all. I should do these kinds of social media cleanses more often.
In our evening gathering people are quiet. Everyone knows that this is our last evening together before we head home early in the morning and many get emotional. Some describe this week as “holy” and I realize that even though church wasn’t exactly my thing this week and I might not have found what I was looking for from there, I’ve had an amazing time full of meaningful experiences in the wild and with these people that I wouldn’t trade them into anything. And I have learned three important things during this week, too. First, that even a city princess like me can go out in shell suit, with no make-up on, and enjoy it. Second, that peace of mind, for me, may not come from church, but it comes when I’m walking in grass that rises up to my waist and share the experience with people who are completely different to me. Third, and probably most importantly, there are bigger problems in the world than mine. But people can live with those, too. This really is a holy island.
More information on Holy Island
More information on Marygate House