To be on Monhegan is to be surrounded by sea. Twelve miles off the coast, there is only ocean. Blue touching blue, water and sky seamlessly seeping into and becoming an endless one. On the backside, the headlands plunge downwards into icy, turbulent pools from which no one has ever been rescued. And yet from these elements so brutal, there emerges solace and community ~ the possibility of meeting life on life’s terms, trust in the fullness of what could be, and patience in the process, to come to believe. It is on this island, that life becomes illuminated, stripped only to what is essential, merging into the alimental, nurturing and healing. On Monhegan I learned to embrace all of who I am, to no longer merely tread water and believe that was a life. On Monhegan I found the courage to speak, and ultimately the strength to swim, finding my way inshore.