Reflections on a Rocky Shore: Embracing the Beauty and Pain of Solitude

I’m sat on a barnacle covered rock, it’s part of a line of angular rock pushing up through the fine sandy beach on the southern tip of the Isle of Arran.

This line points at the Ailsa Craig, a rocky island in the Firth of Clyde. A place where curling stones are quarried. Much closer is the Pladda lighthouse on a small uninhabited island.

This is a beautiful and remote place. The wind is constant. It’s warm, sort of, the sun is out.

It’s a place where seals come to play. There is a small wooden sailing boat anchored in a little natural harbour formed by fingers of small loose rocks.

It’s a place where I sit alone. Thinking about my life. Hurting inside, again. Staring down on myself with devil eyes. Another regret. Another bad decision.

For a short while I have been able look to my side and see a Scottish smile and beautiful arms.

Loving arms that were always there for me.