I began my integration upon returning home by storytelling in a stream of consciousness style. It was the only way for me to begin digesting the interconnectedness of this synchronistic quest.
The linking of events, knowledge, quotes, people made the story non-linear, and impossible really to tell in an A to B time-based sequence. For me, it really is still living, not over or in the past, and a continual revealing tapestry that I found by following a thread.
The beginning I suppose starts where ever I begin. Sometimes it begins “I knew I wanted to go to Ireland 20 years ago, so I began by learning how to play the fiddle by ear”.
Or it begins with the sacred question, “What was going on when my ancestors left, and what culture did they leave behind that my family has no memory of?”.
The narratives have intersecting themes like this stream of images and story placeholders: The Dyllis gathered from the rocks when food was scarce on land, the carageen that becomes like Jello, the 80yr old hermit who will not be named, Colm’s recounting of the 20 mile walk to the sea to gather limpits, the famine pressures, Irish cuisine, potatoes on the hillsides, bogs, seaweed and sand amendments, The Field, my grandfathers plate of food, the emergence of the next gen growing organic vedge, hunger makes the best sauce, the potato basket, Joe Hogan, how to steam willow, this years soul supper: Irish theme, the winter grazing land on the Burren limestone, The Galway Hooker, Joe the master boat builder, trading turf for limestone, lime kilns and death at sea.
I have either an image, a story, anecdote, recording, video or photograph for each, often all of the above. I have 2 full pages of placeholders like the paragraph above.
I’m saying all this because I’m challenged with expressing it in a blog format. I have a part of me that thinks it needs to be sequential, I pause to consider a linear narrative, and then the blog doesn’t get written. I’m moving forward, releasing the expectation of a linear narrative. If you have questions or comments, that is good and a natural part of the call and response of storytelling, so please participate in that way if you like.
Here are some images from the paragraph above:
Wonderful images and rich narrative, Mark. I see no need for it to be linear. This is dense and nourishing prose that reads like poetry.
I am honored to witness this story unfolding and healing and growing your connection with the land, your family, your culture and yourself.
The photo of the sod roofed dwelling is so intriguing to me. Thank you for pulling back the curtain and sharing your story threads. I’m excited to hear where it leads you.
Many blessings.
Thank you Anne. The old photo is an eviction of a family by landlords. Land Lord’s. There were many pressures besides the blight and starvation that forced families to emigrate, mostly economic sanctions to extract from the land and drive people off.
I too love that it is non linear. The snippets open doorways and curiosity to know more as well as space to just imagine. I feel myself expanding as I read. It piques my curiosity about my Scottish forbears. The hardships and heartbreaks that sent them to faraway places. I find our sharing in this way is so evocative.
I am part of a group exploring the feminine and have been hearing how finding our way forward will not be a linear journey.
Thank you Mark
excellent. finding our way forward will not be linear. complexity is a continual theme and culture / nature perspectives are fabrics broader than we can imagine and yet the feed us and cloak us in their warmth when we surrender to them.
I can’t wait to hear more and, my way of thinking, do not edit! Allow it to flow in the way it moves within your psyche and soul. Can’t wait to hear. I love Ireland and have been their twice. Blessed be for your journey.
Thanks for the encouragement Wendolyn, just what I needed.
Hey Mark–I recommend Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens for a novel on the famines, emigration, and the process of forgetting our ancestry. Miki
Thanks Miki, third time I heard that, must be the one!