It has been one of those mornings, starting with sleeping in and missing an appointment, and after a few other minor mishaps, culminating in a doorstep rampage from a woman trying to persuade me to join her religious sect to save my soul.

I am now sitting on a bench watching the sea lapping onto the shore. I think of all my ancestors looking at this same sea and in its unchanging ebbing and flowing, I am convinced that just by watching it and listening to the swish of the waves, they would have felt their souls being nourished, just as mine is.

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We are extremely grateful to the Third Year Illustration students at Edinburgh College of Art, and Harvey Dingwall for making this collaboration possible. The Citizen Writing Group is part of Citizen, our flagship communities project which is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and through the PLACE Programme (funded by the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council, and the Edinburgh Festivals, and supported and administered by Creative Scotland).