The first person I have ever met on the island is an old man called Om Mani.

He came here by himself when he was 13, and has been living here for the past 50 years.

His is slim, 3x stronger than me, and work hard all day, every day, starting early without breakfast.

For the past 2 years,

each time we have some unusual weather, he is our go-to person.

And his answer is usually the same:

“oh yeah, I know this wind, it’s ok I have seen much worse, no need to worry.”

Each wind, season, or type of wave has a specific local name,

and if you just say “baleba” to anybody here, they know they should basically stay home.

But… not today.

Today, when I went to talk to Om Mani, he was laughing.

I asked: “what was that thing…?!”

We just had the strongest wind I have felt in my life.

Something swift, cold, sharp, throwing sand in the eyes, and destroying roofs.

It brought a strong rain with it.

After 15 minutes, it was completely gone,

and only the waves remain.

He smiled, and for once, he replied:

“In 50 years here, it’s the first time I see something like this.”

He added, while still laughing:

“The roof of my hut is completely destroyed.”

Yes, he laughed, with his roofless house,

and I was worried and concerned, even though we had very, very, little damage.

But after a while, I knew why he laughed, and I got my lesson.

This is what 50 years of island wisdom looks like.

Why would he worry, or be concerned?

A few hours later, he fixed his roof.

And he dried his stuff under the sun.

He is still alive, healthy, has a new roof over his head,

and now has a new story to tell.

— Why worry for something which is gone already?

— Why being concerned about things we can fix?

This is the island wisdom I received today.

It’s now 10:30PM, all our 35 guests are happy, doing their private island karaoke night, eating fish, enjoying a bonfire..

And I am finally happy we got hit by this unnamed wind, which nobody had ever seen before.

We still don’t know how to call it.

But it helped me being more present, appreciative and more grateful, for the small things.

50 years of island wisdom, in one blow.