i am here

I have trouble pinpointing what exactly holds this community together. Sesselja comes up pretty often in conversation. She was Sólheimar’s founder and matriarch, and is remembered fondly by most (she died in the 80s, I think). According to Erla, who teaches Eurhythmy, Sesselja lived with the rhythm of the stars, and stirred soup (which was cooked directly in the hot spring) with love and a wooden spoon. During her life, she was undoubtedly the center of this place, and yet it holds together quite well in her absence. Erla explained Sólheimar’s continued success by telling us that spirit lives everywhere – it’s not just one person who holds it; it’s all of us. It’s a strange feeling to be hit in the face with something you already know. But somehow this idea – that spirit is in all of us – at that moment was important for me to hear. Being a member of a community is an enormous responsibility; it is a job that continues even while you are sleeping. My mood, my body language, my level of interaction, my presence or absence at any given moment – it all has an effect on the space I inhabit, and those I share it with. We are social beings, with emotions much more interconnected than we usually care to acknowledge. I forget sometimes that silence does not make me invisible, that it is impossible to be only an observer. Even as a transient presence here, I am a part of Sólheimar. We are all responsible for the health of the social space we create and inhabit together. And if I fail to nurture myself (in mind, body, and heart), I am doing nothing short of robbing this community.

Shelby