Ireland, Coming Home, and All the Things

It is wonderful going far enough away from home that your regular life gets quiet for a little while.

For ten days, Joey and I got to explore Ireland together. Just us. It was incredible.

There were winding roads, very narrow winding roads, that made me question both our navigation skills and our marriage vows. There were views that seemed almost too beautiful to be real. There were little towns, stone walls, green fields, cliffs, flowers growing in places they had absolutely no business growing, and more shades of green than I knew existed.

There were castles.

There were churches that made me stop and sit awhile with God.

And there was history everywhere.

Not history tucked safely behind museum glass, either. History you could walk through. Touch. Sit beside. Look up at. Centuries-old buildings standing in the middle of places where people are still living their everyday lives.

That may have been one of my favorite parts.

I found myself fascinated by the evidence of it — the worn stone, the old doors, the moss growing over walls, the ruins sitting quietly against the landscape, and all the tiny details that would have been very easy to walk right past.

I came home with hundreds of photographs! Some of my favorites aren't necessarily the big, sweeping Ireland pictures you might expect. They're the little things.

A snail resting on a dried flower.

Orange lichen growing across a white stone.

Moss tucked into an ancient wall.

Rust. Rock. Water. Wildflowers.

Signs of age sitting right beside signs of new life.

I've started sorting through those images and creating a collection that I'll be displaying at The Collaborative in the coming weeks. I'm not completely sure yet what the finished collection will become, but I know what it feels like.

It feels like noticing.

Noticing was one of the gifts of Ireland for me.

Just Joey and me.

Walking.

Exploring.

Laughing.

Getting a little lost.

Finding our way again.

Sitting in pubs listening to music.

Standing in places that have been standing for hundreds — sometimes thousands — of years.

And having the luxury of simply being together.

I needed that more than I probably realized.

As incredible as Ireland was — and it truly was one of those experiences I know I'll carry with me forever — I was also ready to come home.

Because I really do love my life here.

I love walking back into The Collaborative and seeing lights on in the businesses.

I love hearing conversations down the hall.

I love the ideas, the chaos, the events, the people and the possibilities.

I love Made for More and dreaming up ways we can encourage women and families in our community.

I love teaching classes and laughing with my Tribe.

I love helping small businesses tell their stories.

I love creating things.

I love connecting people.

And, apparently, I love having approximately 47 things happening at any given moment.

So I'm home.

My inbox is full.

My calendar is full.

My brain is already overflowing with ideas.

There are events to plan, businesses to support, workouts to teach, posts to create, projects to finish, people to encourage and — inevitably — something somewhere that needs my attention right this minute.

In other words...I'm back to all the things.

Ireland reminded me how important it is to occasionally leave the life you've built.

To go somewhere unfamiliar.

To look around.

To notice.

To rest.

To remember who you are when you aren't checking things off a list.

So, for now, you'll find me back in my happy place at The Collaborative, surrounded by my Tribe, probably carrying too many keys, drinking something out of a travel mug, working on six different things at once and dreaming about three more.

Home from Ireland.

Heart very full.

And happily back to all the things.