Day 28 / Hermit Diaries, Over & Out

Bidding farewell to Leros in true hermit style

Total ABBA listening time: 14 days 7 hours and 32 minutes
Total hummus tubs consumed: 329 (feels like)
Total hermit friends: 14 (not counting substack pals)
Total stalkers: 1 (but survived to tell the tale)
Total Freckles: 747 (v good)

And just like that, it’s my last day on Leros.

Honestly, I can’t quite believe where the time has gone and there’s a slight feeling in my gut that I could happily have done another two weeks.

But as it is, my ferry is booked so after a final morning meditation on the terrace, I head down to the beach. The place is completely deserted (almost like the island knew) and in a throwback to day one elation, I play ABBA and have a final birthday suit boogie.

(Final) Beaching

I swim, finish The Artist’s Way and collect my last few shells. Then I finish my final book. Maybe it is time to go after all.

I bid a somewhat emotional goodbye to Valérie and Alain (we’re all mutually delighted that no knives were required last night) and head up to the house to work my way through my end of trip admin.

Packing. Cleaning. Carefully tucking pressed flowers into my notebook. A final trip into town to send some post cards including one to future me. Just in case she starts to forget the hermit state of mind.

And as the sun slips down towards the sea, I have an early supper of fridge leftovers.

I’m not quite sure what to do next. Unsure how I want to round out this chapter.

(Final) Yomping

In the end, I jump in Suze and we head to goat sunset spot for a final yomp up the hill to the parabolic acoustic mirror. Fewer 80s bangers and slightly more reflective tunes compared to last time.

I spend a while at the top, looking down over the island and retracing my steps from bay to bay, chapel to chapel. The windmills and castle glow in the sunset.

On my way back down, I feel grounded and subdued in a soft, introspective way.

Skinny Dipping

By the time I get back to the house, the sun has set so I throw on a towel, grab the speaker and pour a vermouth for one last moonlit skinny dip. The water’s depths are dark and inky but its surface is bright silver in the light of the moon and the first stars of the night.

I float and listen to the lap of water. Feeling deep contentment. A sense that this here is enough.

I stay in slightly too long and by the time I finally leave, my fingers are numb. I wrap myself in the towel and raise my glass to the crescent moon in a final thanks to Artemis.

And then I shed a few tears (well what’s new there).

But they’re bittersweet, happy-sad ones. Real gratitude for this month and everything it’s given me. Sadness at returning to London but also a renewed sense of joy and hope and possibility for the future.

Life seems expansive once again.

I came here a bit cracked and slightly threadbare. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect really. Was hoping to find some space for myself. To reset some old habits. To maybe feel a bit more like me again.

In fact, this month has been bigger than I expected.

A rollercoaster ride of feeling and healing. Re-learning how to play and rest and create. Remembering old hobbies and joys. Falling back in love with music, swimming and myself.

What a month. What a life.

Concluding

So, in a final farewell to The Hermit Diaries (for now at least) here are a handful of hermit learnings in no particular order:

• You can’t plan a good story, they happen when things go wrong

• The importance of casual connections, a smile goes a long way

• Garden your grief - water it, weed it and let new things grow

• Always go for that swim

• Take taking yourself lightly, very seriously

• Alone ≠ lonely, rest ≠ laziness, busyness ≠ fullness

• Stop stressing about being bikini-body ready - just sack off the bikini entirely

• You don’t need much and you probably already have it

• When stuck, sad or stressed, do something simple outside. Pick flowers, find shells, put one foot ahead of the other

I’ve said it before, no hermit is an island and it’s been such a joy to share this month with you ❤️

And in the words of you know who…So I say thank you for the music (the messages, the comments, the company), for giving it to me

Hermit Diaries, over & out 🎤

M xx