Tribute to a Poet

May I have the courage today

To live the life that I would love,

To postpone my dream no longer

But do at last what I came here for

And waste my heart no more.

-John O'Donohue

To Learn from an Animal Being

I originally set up this blog last November when it looked like we'd be moving to the log cabin adjacent to our property.  That property backs up to cliffs and because we lost our West Highland White Terrier last summer but hoped to get another one within the year, we thought West Highland Creagan would be a proper name for our new place.  I wanted to blog about our new adventure, but then the deal fell through, and I was left with a silent blog.

Yesterday I found John O'Donohue's poetry for the first time in the new edition of Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life. O'Donohue's quote has inspired me to use West Highland Creagan to share insights from Sarah's book.  It was the first Simple Abundance:  A Daybook of Comfort and Joy that inspired me to write a devotional in 2003 and then post it on-line in 2011 which was my first blog.  The whole purpose of leaving our home of more than 38 years where we'd raised our family and moving to a smaller cabin, that I always found very inspiring when I visited my neighbor, was to get ourselves out of a rut.  For me, my rut was my identity as "mother" even though all my sons are now married.  Having daily reminders of raising my family here was not helping me move on.  But we love the mountain we live on so we've never actively pursued moving elsewhere.  Having the log cabin suddenly become available because my neighbor is wanting to switch things up in her life, too, seemed like the perfect answer!  However, when we found that we could not get enough out of our house to make it a lateral move, we had to let it go.  Since then my husband and I have had many discussions about what we might do to make happen what we were hoping to achieve without having to actually move.  Sarah's book has come at the perfect time for me, and John O'Donohue's poem is my rallying call to discover just exactly how to find what I'm looking for.

The fact that today is the 12th anniversary of the passing of this Irish poet makes his poem all the more poignant.  He was only 52 when he died in his sleep.  I have to think he was only given 52 years because he'd fulfilled his purpose and was being rewarded with the perfection he knew was awaiting  him.  Those he left behind have suffered a loss in his leaving, but he has not.  We are blessed to have his writings upon which to ruminate as we seek the same courage he found to live the life he loved and not waste a moment of what his heart had to give.  Below is a compilation of several of his poems that someone has put together with inspiring photos and music.  May it warm your heart and inspire you as it has me......


                            

You can find out more about John O'Donohue HERE.

I will be posting weekly about what I'm learning from Simple Abundance:  365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life.  If you want to follow West Highland Creagan, subscribe in the space provided at the top of the blog.