A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have the experience of a lifetime.
I found myself sitting on a camp chair, with my wife, next to a river about 50 miles from the nearest civilization in the Canadian wilderness. We were there to watch bears, so thankfully we also had some experienced guides to keep us safe and to show us where best to see them. Along with a small group of other people, we sat in complete silence (to ensure we didn’t scare the bears away) for almost 3 hours and…well… nothing happened! No bears, a few birds flew around and the Pacific salmon who were swimming upriver to mate, continued their struggles. But basically, nothing happened.
For the first hour, I was feeling increasingly frustrated – this wasn’t what I signed up for, I wanted bears!
But as time went on, I reflected both on the privileged position I was in just being there and on how nice it was just to be in nature and to stop. To have nothing to do but feel the breeze on my face, watch the river flow and look at the surrounding mountains. I felt a real sense of peace gradually creep over me as I let my breathing slow, and my mind truly relax. I had time to watch the sunlight glinting off the water as it tumbled over the rocks, to look at all the different colours of the leaves on the trees and bushes and to see the clouds slowly moving and changing as the day wore on.
I am definitely someone who struggles with silence, with ‘doing nothing’ and with switching my mind off, but for a couple of hours it happened, and it felt amazing.
This got me thinking about how I (we) look after ourselves. How can I bring that sense of peace back home with me? How can I find the time to get away into the wilderness to be still? Where can I do this?
Then I remembered the “smoker’s bench” at Glen Etive, one of the few places in the world where I can sit and be at peace. I can be surrounded by nature and really notice what is around me and let my body and my mind rest.
We marked World Mental Health Day recently which focused on workplace mental wellbeing and in these difficult times, it’s really important that all of us find that special place to stop and switch off, even if just for a short time, step away from the desk, the phone, the computer, the TV, the games console and find a little peace – and you don’t need to go to Glen Etive to find this. We are surrounded by nature in our gardens, parks or waterways. I hope everyone connected with Venture Scotland, whether staff, trustee, supporter, volunteer, young person or ambassador can find the time and place they need to look after themselves.
PS Just in case you were worried…we did see the bears!
David Brackenridge, CEO
