Thin Places (#32)

Inspiration Is About Place as Much as Spirit

In the sixth century, the Irish monk Columba left his homeland and sailed north until he found a place of rock and wind. He settled on the small island of Iona, where the Atlantic ebbs eternally against the shore and the horizon never quite settles.

Early accounts describe Columba walking the island alone at dawn. He prayed along the waterline, where sea and sky blur into one another and the sound of crashing waves carries a strange resonance. The solitude felt less like absence and more like anticipation.

Island of Iona, pictured by Historic UK

Columba believed God spoke out there by the waves. The loud breaking of the sea pierced the quiet of his prayers. By Columba’s own admission, the place itself seemed to listen.

Iona came to be known as a “thin place.” Pilgrims would later say that standing there felt like standing on a threshold, as if the mundane world had lost its grip. Heaven felt closer, not because of emotion or imagination, but because the earth itself reached out for it.

The Celts did not treat inspiration as a force of fate that arrived randomly. They believed it emerged where place and presence met: mountains, islands, rivers, shores. Where you stood shaped what you heard.

Maybe we don’t walk rocky coastlines expecting a divine encounter, but we still recognize this truth instinctively. Some places sharpen us. Others dull us. Some environments make our work feel strained and brittle. Others make it feel like breathing. The difference is rarely effort. It’s location.

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When Work Has No Threshold

In the world of remote work, inspiration and productivity are not a given. If you’re a remote worker, you already know this!