Belonging

 

The old Kershader village boundary

In traditional gaelic culture it is common to ask 'where do you belong?'.  It is not just a question about where someone lives, it is something that the individual will say of themselves as part of their identity 'I belong to Kershader'.  It suggests to me a deep connection with the land, similar to the way sheep heft to a particular area.  Or perhaps it is not just Kershader as a collection of fields, but a greater whole, including the people who also live there that the individual belongs to.
 
In mind of this importance placed on community and land connection, there was a historic celebration last weekend, when the people of Pairc formally celebrated buying the estate from it's landlord.

No longer will the land in the area of Pairc be owned by a someone who does not live here.  The Pairc Trust - a committee of elected members - will now have control over what happens to the area, be it sheep farming, wind farming or anything else that will affect the residents.

It has been a long and emotional battle to get to this point.  It has divided the community, cost hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees and a final sale price and the repercussions are still being felt.  It is not simple to explain all the detail, it is hard to know what is fact, what is legal jargon, what are lies and what is just gossip.

On paper it seems positive for a community to jointly own its own land, but I do not know if it has done anything to strengthen peoples feeling of belonging.  Like a bitter war, I think many people still feel sad about those that have fallen and were injured by the battle, to join in the celebrations at this time.

It has come at the same time that the UK has decided to leave the European Union, a decision that I feel was the wrong one - and so did the majority of people in Scotland.  The 'Leave'-voting majority were from England and Wales and included members of my family.  It highlighted to me the stark contrast between where I am now, who I am now, and where I came from.  One of the reasons I left where I grew up was because I didn't feel I belonged there, the dominant mindset just didn't appeal to me.  Nowadays however, whether it is a feeling of belonging to Kershader, or more that I belong to my new family (as they in turn belong to me), I realise that this is such an important factor in our wellbeing.   We must all feel that we are in the right place, that we fit with our environment, to become happy. 

Another piece of old gaelic culture which has it right.

The road ahead...