Tranquility and Rhythm
Greetings! It's Sunday morning here in West Ireland. Specifically, Doolin in County Clare. The cottage where we are staying sits a few miles off the coast. Large windows surround the entire house. Rain and wind batter the emerald landscape. I notice John O'Donohue's book, Eternal Echoes on the shelf.
“The landscape of West Ireland offers welcoming shelter for the soul,” he writes. I sit and look out at the horizon and meditate on his words. I recall yesterday's hike with Bobwen and Lea as we made our way down the wild grassy terrain in front of the cottage towards the Cliffs of Moher trail. I read some more.
“Perhaps Nature senses the longing that is in us, the restlessness that never lets us settle. She takes us into the tranquility of her stillness if we visit her.”
“We slip into her quiet contemplation and inhabit for a while the depth of her ancient belonging. Somehow, we seem to become one with the rhythm of the universe.”
“Our longing is purified, and we gain strength to come back to life refreshed and to refine our ways of belonging in the world. Nature calls us to tranquility and rhythm.”
The fog clears and the seascape is visible. The rain tapers off temporarily while the wind continues to howl. Malyn is down with the cold and resting in the upstairs bedroom. GT is prepping in the kitchen while Bobwen is knitting on the couch with Pina (GT’s mini pinscher dog) by her side. The cottage is quiet now as a group leaves to go to the grocery store. We cancel our lunch reservations and 3-hour hike of The Burren and opt for home-cooked lugaw (Filipino porridge) instead.