Meet Me in Mull

Although I have been volunteering for the Grassmarket Project for the past semester and I knew some of the members who were coming along, I didn’t really know what to expect from Mull and the experience as a whole. So, after five hours on a train, about an hour on a ferry, another hour on a local bus and a 30-minute hike, I was blown away when we arrived at the most beautiful little bay surrounded by nothing but hills, two old fisherman stone houses and sheep (and a lot of sheep poop).

This little bay is called Camas, where a community of people live alongside nature and host guests ranging from school trips to families and individuals. According to the people at Camas, their focus is on one’s mental health, spirituality and the environment. All these are quite obvious when you spend a few days there as the only source of electricity is one wind turbine and a few solar panels, all food is vegetarian and comes mostly from their garden and they put a lot of importance on ‘reflections’ that happen every morning and every evening. Truth be told, I was very sceptic about the reflections because I don’t see how someone can be mindful and think about their deepest darkest thoughts and secrets on demand, but I could see that the Grassmarket members welcomed the opportunity to express themselves and share their truths and life stories with the rest of us.

The two people whose stories stood out to me the most was a man who could have been in his early 50s and wanted nothing more than to be an example for his daughter and become a tour guide to create a legacy for his daughter. Despite having a tough life dealing homelessness, depression and other traumatic experiences, he wanted to inspire other fathers who might be struggling to take life back into their own hands to be there for their children. Another powerful individual was a transgender woman of similar age, who was unapologetically speaking out about her life as a queer individual who did not have the advantage of wide public awareness about trans issues growing up.

I was taken aback by the openness and vulnerability they were willing to show to strangers because I’ve never been comfortable sharing personal details about my life with people and I must say I was inspired by it. To take it back to Queer Eye— ‘vulnerability is a gorgeous strength’ after all and we should all take something from these strong individuals and practice is every once in a while.