Ireland 1st post

A good friend of mine just recently posted on one of my Paris entries, that it was clear that “my heart was present in every image” (thanks, Jenna);) It’s always been a dream of mine to live in Paris—I feel like I belong in that city and that I am in a constant alpha state while I am there. My dreams and hopefully future are in Paris.

But Ireland—oh, Ireland. Ireland is a place of the past— a place that I actually did once call home. I lived and worked in Galway, Ireland back in 2001 after I graduated from CU. Ireland is a place where my heart comes alive—bleeding and vulnerable. You see, I was there during 9/11 which in and of itself was quite surreal. Everyone remembers where they were, when they first heard about the terrorist attacks, and I was slinging Guinness at a little place called the Bridge Mills. Ireland is also where I realized that I was in love with Jesse. I had left him behind in America, and I felt like I could hardly breathe without him. I think I cried over a bottle of wine and Jeff Buckley every night I was living there. Jesse and I also had a tumultuous time in our relationship just one year later. We broke off our engagement and I went back to Ireland to get away from it all. Again, it was in Ireland that I realized that I couldn’t live without him. So, going back to Galway, Ireland with the 3 other girls earlier this month was quiet an emotional and spiritual journey for me. I was on the one hand so happy that I, for the first time had company, and that I could show the girls where I once lived, and on the other hand more lonely, somehow with them there….

So, I am wearing my heart on my sleeve in some of these images….

One of my favorite images that I took in Ireland back in 2001, was of a bunch of tangled fishnets with the same palate as the image below of the ropes. I felt that this image was an appropriate follow up and metaphor to the state of my life–tangled and messy before, straight and clean now… but both beautiful in their nature.

On the second night of our stay in Galway, I had to get out on my own. It was really cold and windy, and while I planned on walking up the coast to Salt Hill, it was just too cold. I ended up sitting for an hour or two at the pier to journal and make these images. What I didn’t know at the time, was that there were actually hurricane level winds (up to 200 mph) that made international news! The wind actually knocked Paige down twice, she said. I was just completely in my head and in my element, right there in the storm…

As you can see, I could barely hold my camera steady.

Check out this dramatic weather! The water is actually coming up and over the stairs and sidewalk down to where people dock their boats!

This is a self portrait that I made, just after I came in from the storm. It was taken at Nemo’s— a Spanish restaurant that has the most cozy, warm ambiance anytime of the day–let alone after coming in from freezing winds. And the wine is delicious, too!