Kys t’ou, How are you? I'm Bodhi. I'm the community wellbeing officer, based here at Tashtey nature park. My job is about connection, making sure that all the connections we have here and in the wider Island are working well. How we relate to each other, to our community, and to the rest of nature. We've learned that if one thread weakens, the whole web is damaged. That's what I keep my eye on. It's a job of noticing and listening. It sounds complicated, but once we got the hang of seeing the bigger picture, it came naturally. I think we always knew how, we'd just forgotten.  

The change I remember was when I was 14. There was a…shift in mindset, shall we say. It started with listening to what us young people were saying all those years ago. It took a while to get our point across, but no blame, listening wasn't so easy back then. It was a faster time, the whole internet clamouring and yammering for your attention. Stress and mental health problems on the rise, even amongst children. Digital overload and a lot of fear, I suppose. When I look back, I'm proud of how far we've come. It took the whole community, the businesses, the people, the government and the children. A whole Island working for and with our Biosphere. And we're better off for it.  

Anyway, leave your phone on the breezepod to charge and I'll show you around. You'll be leaving recharged too! We've got a great team here. They might be out and about working across the Island. Blaa, our digital detox coach, Bertram, our arts therapist, and the walking guides and gardeners. Meet Gertie, the therapy goat. Careful she doesn't nibble your hair now! Her ancestors used to live on the hills, but they were butting heads with the humans, so they live with us now, they do a fine job, and we do well by them. We've many animals here. You can be open with them about your emotions, no judgement. All they ask for back is kindness and a bit of hay from one of the community meadows. There's always something happening here, always someone to talk to…or not. We've got the food growing area, community compost bay, outdoor classroom and many wild spaces, where we can get clues about how healthy the ecosystems are here. You can get involved and stay busy or just watch the clouds drift by. Loud or quiet. There's time enough for it all and everyone is welcome.  

Tashtey is Manx for 'treasure’, because it’s precious what we have found here, what we’ve learned and remembered; the empathy for each other and the rest of nature, the love for our Island. The calm we feel in nature, we carry that with us through life. It impacts everything. The better we feel, the more we can appreciate the beauty of our Island, the more we care for it, and each other, the more abundant nature becomes and so the better we feel, body and soul, a loop. That ripples out into the whole community, the economy and eventually, the rest of the world. It's all linked. But you've got to feel good to do good. That's where the park comes in and we say here, ‘look after nature and nature will look after you’.  

Why do I do what I do? If I just had two words, they would be ‘connection’ and ‘happiness’. I could never put a price on that.