At the beginning of last year, we spend 3 months living in Ireland. For those of you who followed my previous blog or have been around IG for a while you will know how much I adored our time on the Emerald Isle. The essence of the country and its people still lingers in my soul. To me it had a wildness that will never be tamed, a people whose character is strong, kind and loyal and a culture that knows its values.  A culture that sings, talks and shares its history (the beautiful and the ugly) through stories and myths. A people who are  unafraid to leave some thought to the unknown.

One morning as I stood in the queue of the post office I realised that the queue never moves fast. It’s wise to not be in a hurry when posting a letter in country Ireland. Hurry had no purpose in this small country town. Of course the purpose of the queue was to form an order but more importantly is served as a way to connect community. People know each other, grandchildren are asked after, information is shared and warm “how are ye’s” were met with warm smiles and a “grand, yerself”?

I like to think of myself as a strong kind of character and I have the resilience to withstand testing conditions and forge new paths for myself and my family. I do spend a load of time alone in my own space and in nature and that fuels my thoughts and give me the solitude I need to  know if I’m comfortable with where I am in life (space to tap into how I’m feeling). I am learning about the importance of the strength that comes from a community. Do we need to be a part of every community that interests us or we situationally find ourselves in? I don’t think so. But for those of us who seek to understand and explore our way through a life filled with meaning we do need a community that ‘gets’ us, supports us, challenges us and holds us. The one that helps to propel us forward and because sometimes we want to do things differently from the crowd it can be a little scary doing that. We deep feelers can only put our hearts where we feel trust. Trust helps us grow. And when we grow we become our most courageous selves.

Like the seasons in nature our communities aren’t always static. There are those, who like the earth’s soil remain – grounding us and adjusting with us when the season changes. But it is also ok to let go if we find we not longer fit where we are, to seek new ideas, challenges and connections. To give less of ourselves to those who don’t ‘get’ us. The nature of our communities can come in many forms, sometimes it is the queue at the post office, sometimes it’s where we work, the school we drop the kids off, our families, our school friends, the people we talk to in our street and our online spaces, the conversations we have at the market, the shops, on the trail,  our language classes, the gym. I don’t think it matters where we find our people, just as long as we do.

We need our people. The ones who are open to us bringing out our best and worst thoughts, encouraging our reflection, those who live in a way that shows us that (most of us) have choices and voices, that we are lucky, those who put themselves out there in a way we never imagine we ever could. You see, those people – they are moving, they are growing, they are the ones who will water our seeds. You know the seeds I’m talking about –  those tiny possibilities that hold our deepest dreams.

Our people, our communities, our tribe they help us with the thing that holds most of us back – our fears. Because they believe in us, they are on our path for the same reason, they are not competing, they are not judging, they are forgiving and understanding. They are there to help us achieve what is possible for us. As a dreamer of many dreams I want to thank you Ireland. You beautiful wild, rugged land of ferocious winds, you taught me what I needed to learn most. There is a time for solitude and there is a time to let the winds blow in the spirits that we need to grow.

“I think it’s neat you do what you want. Not enough chicks do that, if you ask me–just tell society and their expectations to go fuck themselves. If more women did that, we’d be better off.” ~ Cheryl Strayed, Wild.

Check in for my diary updates – Camino 2018 One Girl Project.

I’ve added a thank you page for the champions of this story here.

Support crews are everything. A few more opportunities for corporate sponsorship.

Sponsors of The Camino Frances 2018 (769km) – Trek for One Girl: