Circle of Stones....

   I loved coming across this little circle of stones in the village I stayed in.  It is called the Stones of Gratitude but I also saw them as representing community.

   We are all part of a circle of influence.  Some family, some friends, some people we never met but who part of our life in some way.  They are our community.

    In SoulCollage®, there is a suit called community.  You create cards for all those members of your circle, in gratitude for their part in your life.  They all have contributed in large and small ways to who you have become.

   I spent some time walking around this circle, ascribing a name to each stone and personally thanking them for what they have meant to me over the years.  It was so fitting, so tailor made to this leg of my Threshold Pilgrimage.  We all need to do this from time to time.  Some of my community members have passed away but others are still with me.  I think I will write each a note...we seldom take the time to say "Thank you for being a part of my life...thank you for being you!"

Another clothes line, another message....

   The day I made this photograph I was feeling really unwell.  I couldn't even venture out into the beautiful landscape.  But, after this winter of receiving the near to hand, I wasn't surprised to see this humble metaphor directly out the back door of the cottage.

   I've always love photographing clothes lines...usually in black and white with elegantly billowing sheets in the wind.  Today these cheery plastic clothes pins greeted me and they had a totally different tale to tell.
  
      Clothes pins have no purpose without clothes to hang yet these seemed content to spin in the wind, bright spots of color in a green/grey world.  They were happy to just patiently wait until someone needed them again.  We human beings, or I should say "human doings", are never content to just spin in the wind...we need a purpose, a function to fulfill.  These low days, as I struggle to get back on my feet, I will follow their advise.  I'll just spin in the wind and wait until I can perform my function again as a traveler and a pilgrim.  It won't be long!

Go with the flow, Bend with the Wind

   The wind is a constant presence here on the Burren.  Both nature and the inhabitants work with it rather than fight it.

You can't change the wind, adjust your

 sails instead.

   Here is a photograph that illustrates both approaches.  The tree grows with its back to the wind allowing the gales to blow safely over it.  The people build their stone walls with gaps so that, again, the wind can pass through.  How much of our life would be that much easier if we just learned this simple lesson.  I think this will be my Icon of the experience here in the Burren.

   With my medical condition, I have had to adopt this approach.  I can't change what is tormenting my body.  I have to take care of what I can and not push myself.  I may not be doing all the things I'd hope to on this journey but the lessons and the experience can still be enriching. My little Vade Mecum is giving me all sorts of inspiration and comfort.

   Today I celebrate my 65th birthday with friends in Glasgow, Scotland. A BIG threshold met and crossed.  Now I can take advantage of the senior citizen discounts!  How odd it sounds to say that...

 

Corcomroe Abbey Reflections...

   I spent some wind swept time at the Corcomroe Abbey, one of my favorite places to photograph in the Burren.  I was able to have the place totally to myself, one of the benefits of traveling off season.

   This is the effigy of Connor O'Brian, the grandson of the 12th founder of the abbey.  Buried to the left of the high alter, he has laid tranquil and undisturbed for centuries.

    The landscape around the Abbey has remained essentially undisturbed as well.  As I sat there I could hear the cuckoo's distinctive call and the wind whistling through the ruin.  It was such a timeless feeling.

   I didn't make very many photos this time.  I'd missed photographing the effigy on my last visit, caught up as I was in the atmosphere of the place, so I wanted to record that peaceful face and that strangely shaped arm!  It is very easy to get so entranced by a location that you forget to "record" it. This is certainly that kind of location.  This day I was, again, content to just sit and soak in the energy.  One can almost hear the chanting monks!  I was happy to just contemplate and not worry about the photography part!

   Unfortunately, I've had a set back health wise. I spent a couple of hours in a clinic getting a new round of medication.  I will just need to get myself to Cork airport today and my friends will meet me at Glasgow airport.  I will welcome some time to rest and let the medication kick in.  The amazing thing about yesterday was how I was able to find everything I needed.  The man in the parking lot that got me the coins I needed for the parking, the taxi that appeared out of no where when I couldn't walk another step, and the clinic that took me right in and ordered what I needed, no waiting.  It bordered on the miraculous.  This too shall pass....

Eroded by time...

   The limestone pavings of the Burren are like organic, free form shapes.  They have been eroded over centuries by the wind and rain.  I couldn't help but think of the Taoist idea of the power and centrality of water.  Nothing can resist it given time yet it remains fluid, reflecting the sky, conforming to whatever container it finds itself in but remaining the strongest, most enduring element.  A good role model I always thought.

   I will soon be reaching my 65th milestone.  I must admit that I sometimes feel a bit worn down, like these stones.  But what I noticed is that unlike the smooth, bold boulders, these pavings are so much more beautiful in their softly undulating forms.

   Showing your age should not be a problem except in our youth focused culture.  I don't mind crossing that threshold, into my "golden years".  Whenever I complain about a creaky knee or some other random ache, I will remember these stones.  Time has sculpted me as well and I wouldn't exchange those experiences for anything in the world.

  

Another Kind of Threshold...

   The Polnabrone portal tomb is over 5,000 years and is a Burren icon.  I make a stop at it every time I visit the Burren, usually a couple of hours after I get off the plane, usually severely jet lagged. It still impresses me!

   This time I looked at it as a monumental threshold...into a resting place...into the womb of the earth from which we all came and to which we all return in time.   It is not a morbid thought at all.  In fact, it is quite comforting.  No use worrying about something that is inevitable.

   I learned, this morning, of the death of a dear colleague from my teaching days in a tragic accident  and it made me think of something John O'Donohue wrote:

Your soul knows the geography of your destiny...it will

take you where you need to go, but more important it

will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey.

John's grave at Fanora

   Ancient bones have been excavated here and when it was made it would have been covered over with earth forming a mound with a single entrance.  People have inhabited this remote landscape for 10,000 years.  There is a pull, a magnetism here that you can feel right down to your toes. Those ancient people knew it, it is why they came. Things happen to you here and you will be changed on a very elemental level by the experience.  That is one definition of a thin place.

   I continue to struggle to get my health and energy back but this too, as awful as it is, is part of the journey.  It has brought me face to face with my own vulnerability and made the concept of "community" all the more important for me.  Every pilgrim knows that we can't avoid adversity.  We must accept what does come our way...we will find the way to get through it with the help of friends and loved ones.

  

On Location - The Burren

   My first "On Location..." post on my Threshold Pilgrimage!  Stepping back into this amazing landscape nearly made me weep...I love it so.

   I've settled into "John's house" and I feel right at home.  On this leg of the pilgrimage, I am looking at "community", especially my relationship with it.

   A serious medical event the week I was to depart has left me weak and trying desperately to recover.  My friends have been so supportive but I know that I must modify my days...be gentle with myself.  I'm here, and there was a brief time last week when I wasn't sure I would be, and that's the most important thing.

   Writing, walking, just breathing in this transcendent place is such a blessing, I am so grateful.  You will understand that these posts will be a bit shorter than normal.  I hardly want to stay inside when I can walk in wonder in this spectacular landscape!

   For four Sundays in June, I will be writing a post for A Sacred Journey on my pilgrimage.  I hope you will follow the series.  The link to the site is in the right side bar.