SCOTLAND EXPLORATION
A journey to Scotland, a 10-day adventure from Edinburgh's Rosslyn Chapel through the Cairngorms and on to Orkney, and back, I aimed to create a full spectrum experience for the attendees. They were not simply seeking a holiday but a deep immersion in Scotland's culture, land, and rich history.
I booked all the venues, drove the bus, and arranged appropriate timings for meals, rest, and relaxation, ensuring personal time for the group to share and grow individually. The tour I titled "Illuminating the Footsteps of Our Ancestors." Following in their steps for understanding and reigniting that passion they held for their connections. The group consisted of 4 Americans, 2 Canadians, 3 Dutch, and 3 English - totalling 12 participants.
I extensively researched the history of the stones on the land, the significance of burial mounds, and chambered tombs. These places served as initiatory experiences that modern culture had largely forgotten. The success of this journey relied on the open-mindedness and support of the participants for each other's individual journeys.
Within this structure, I incorporated opportunities for deeper group and individual exploration, utilising the environment and ancestral stones to connect our inner and outer worlds and elevate our stories to grander proportions. These stones were placed to elevate the lives of their participants, connecting them to the sun, and the moon, and living in harmony with their environment and its rhythms. In short, an opportunity to meet ourselves and who were at this time in our fullness.
As a designer, I'm involved in shaping culture too, we need to consider what it is to be human not just a customer. It's clear as a customer myself, that people are expecting more from their brands, we expect them to be considerate to life too, that they offer rewards to nature as well as our pockets - planting trees or supporting wildlife / nature through responsibly, ethically sourced materials and offsetting the carbon footprint they might create.
I question if we have the language available to us in our current world for the territory that we're now beginning to reinhabit, to meet ourselves fully at this current time. This kind of connective journey experience leads the way in re-membering our roots and ancestry. As a culture I believe we’ve become too materialistic and forgotten what our essence is, nothing religious, it’s a presence that I believe if we don’t connect with could mean the end of humanity.
The Scottish tour was about generating more Earth and self-awareness in the participants, to learn a new language of connection. An invitation and an opportunity to have a different kind of conversation, one in which we explore how we create collectively. Open-minded to meet ourselves and each other in a way that's heartfelt. Considerate and honourable to all.
In short, there is something which we must learn to continually iterate within ourselves - be reminded of and reconnect to - a deeper essence of life. If we're constantly looking outside for our happiness, we will never find it, this is being materialistic. The essence to truth and joy is something which is found within, our own light source. With judgement from others, it can be difficult to take that step that brings us back to ourselves. So it’s a delicate operation of honouring each others and our individual journey, while we all explore and grow.
Crafting this experience demonstrates my ability to plan, be organised and still have fun, while being on point to the bigger picture of what we were co-creating as a team. Truly a magical tour for all! We didn't just become friends, we became family.
