I spent part of my formative years growing up on an island with a population in the two hundreds. I learned that island people are often hospitable, and rumor travels like wildfire. I once left a...
I spent part of my formative years growing up on an island with a population in the two hundreds. I learned that island people are often hospitable, and rumor travels like wildfire. I once left a window open late into the evening and my elderly neighbor called my parents at 9:30 pm to notify them of this most serious transgression. Life in a small and mostly enclosed community like that is one of a kind, almost tribal, but more fractured. Hierarchies tend to form mostly around family bonds and tight nit circles of friends, and unorthodox friendships form in spite of typical boundaries like employment, civil and social status. A necessity when all you see are the same few faces over and over.
As I grew up I found that living in a closed off miniature society like that to be increasingly difficult. You don't get to broaden your horizons much and there's a lot of social pressure from family and neighbors to conform. Find a good girl, settle down, establish a family. Young parents are common and many that I grew up with had children before I got my first real job.
This article reminded me of those days. The people in it are different people living different lives, but island folk are strangely similar. Fishermen, farmers, carpenters, teachers and nannies. I quite miss it.
I spent part of my formative years growing up on an island with a population in the two hundreds. I learned that island people are often hospitable, and rumor travels like wildfire. I once left a window open late into the evening and my elderly neighbor called my parents at 9:30 pm to notify them of this most serious transgression. Life in a small and mostly enclosed community like that is one of a kind, almost tribal, but more fractured. Hierarchies tend to form mostly around family bonds and tight nit circles of friends, and unorthodox friendships form in spite of typical boundaries like employment, civil and social status. A necessity when all you see are the same few faces over and over.
As I grew up I found that living in a closed off miniature society like that to be increasingly difficult. You don't get to broaden your horizons much and there's a lot of social pressure from family and neighbors to conform. Find a good girl, settle down, establish a family. Young parents are common and many that I grew up with had children before I got my first real job.
This article reminded me of those days. The people in it are different people living different lives, but island folk are strangely similar. Fishermen, farmers, carpenters, teachers and nannies. I quite miss it.