Returning To Myself......

And all the joy that lies within that....

Louise Coghlan

Jan 13, 2023

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It may have rained outside but my god was it sunny inside my heart this week! xxx

This week I’m starting with a poem from the talented Irish soul - John O’Donoghue and the reason for that is as follows…..At the end of 2022 I definitely felt tired and I knew a break was needed and was coming for me….How did I know? Well because I had decided I was taking it….I had worked hard all year through..not only work wise on the book and the writing but within my heart moving through my grief and loneliness for Granny…..Physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally I was ready for a break. Even my brain was going to get a chance to relax. Between heading to Berlin last week and then this week i’ve enjoyed my time in one of my most favourite hotels in ireland - Fitzgerald's Woodland's House Hotel. I’ve really felt the benefit of taking my own German advice of the Stop and Go process and this ‘stop’ moment has done me the world of good….My writing has been flowing and my brain has never felt so free and at ease…I’ve enjoyed the company of endless amounts of strangers but mostly loved and fallen deeper in love with people who I loved already….I'm so grateful and these two weeks have been everything I dreamed of….A start to the year that I knew I needed but also that I deserved. I don’t feel bad one bit for taking such an extended break because I know my body, mind and soul will benefit as I leap into February and the rest of this month. I am excited and my cup is refilled. My heart is beating strongly and I am so lucky to be alive and to be well. I am so grateful to all those who love me and all those who play such an important part in my life. I hope you know how much I appreciate you all. Like John states at the closing part of this poem, I have been ‘excessively gentle on myself’ and in that due process, over time I have returned to myself…and more on top of that. I have found new parts of me. And I really like me. I am a good human just trying my best to be just that. I just want to be the best version of me for as long as I’m here. I just want to enjoy you. Enjoy those who love me and love you back in return…..My slow time is over for now, but i’m very excited with what is about to happen and in between those moments, I will for sure take more ‘stop’ and ‘slow’ moments making sure I try at least to balance out work and play….Life is short and it’s so important we take control of the pace in which we live it. Really I’ve learned that if we pace ourselves, the peace settles more inside us and all of a sudden we realise, that we are not here for a long time but a good time and it’s up to us to make our lives what they are. NO REGRETS……nope I’m not going to have any of those and I’m going to kick up my heels and work hard and play equally as hard. If I avoid you, I will continue to avoid you. Bad energy - NO THANK YOU! While if I love you (which I do) I promise in 2023 I will love you more! Now over to John O’Donoghue to share his magical wisdom all in one go:

The sun setting over Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel

For One Who Is Exhausted, a Blessing

When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight.

The light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laborsome events of will.

Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.

The tide you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.

You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken in the race of days.

At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.

Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.

Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.

Me and mam have no words for how much we love Mary Fitzgerald…Friends for life x

Finally I’ll finish with this lovely Irish rhyme I found. I just want to mention that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE FITZGERALD FAMILY WHO OWN THE WOODLAND HOUSE HOTEL. I have never experienced hospitality and love like it, over the last week. MARY FITZGERALD - I LOVE YOU! We love your whole family and every moment I get to take a break from life this year, I will be driving to the the gorgeous county of Limerick to top up my soul and heart with love, peace and serenity! Facebook family member and my great friend Eimear O’Connor, I have NO words for you either only I LOVE YOU! A big thanks to Padraig Broderick for selling my book in his shop in Croom and for the absolutely laugh and a half me and mam had with him and his staff. I don’t know how I was ever so lucky to find ye all in my life but I’m keeping ye for the rest of my life. Thank you for being you! Over to this little rhyme and it’s definitely the reason I love being from little old Ireland. I hope we never lose the magic of the special Irish people which is: kindness, kindness and more kindness.