Go Alone

“If you ever get the chance, go alone.
Walk alone, travel alone, live alone, dance alone.
Just for a while. If you ever get the chance, learn who you are
when the world isn’t demanding you to be one way or another.
Most people only know how to stand on their own 
if someone else will stand beside them. 
Don’t let that be your story.
When you get the chance, know that the opportunity
to walk alone, even for a bit, is a rare gift, one that will hand you
insight that can change the course of your life.”

~Brianna Wiest
My solo trip to Inis Mor has been inspired by many authors but these words by Brianna Wiest sealed the deal.  
I left my parents' home when I was 18 to start a life with the love of my life.  We had a beautiful baby boy in that first year of our marriage, an amazing daughter in our third year of marriage and rounded out our family in the best of ways with the births of our lively twins in the eighth year.  We have had rewarding careers and many adventures.  Life is good.
Those early years, I think, found me at my best.  I LOVED (and still do) being a wife, a mother, a family!  I wouldn't change a thing about how our lives transpired. We have had many adventures and our family remains the centre of our universe.
Having said that, I am in my 70th year.  I have become more aware of the sands of time and have read many influential writers whose messages of "spend some time alone, particularly if you are a creative" have settled into my brain and my heart.  So this trip to Inis Mor is for me.  Emily Dickinson wrote, "I am out with lanterns looking for myself." and her words have also resonated with me.  We all have past selves.  I am proud of all of them but want to spend these remaining years growing and learning and always, always, 'becoming'.  
I have kept my eyes peeled for an adventure to celebrate this 70th year.  The criteria included; a solo journey, a learning experience that took me just a little out of my comfort zone and one that I could look back on as an adventure.  So, here I am in Ireland, heading for the little island of Inis Mor.  Bob and I travelled to Ireland many years ago so that helped a little with the idea of heading off on my own.  While I hadn't intended such a grand adventure, it has turned into just that.
I am joining 10 other writers at Kilmurvey House for two weeks of writing and exploring both my own inner world and the world around me.  When asked what my writing goals would be I had to say that I didn't really have any.  I love to write; poetry, journalling, blogging etc. I would describe my writing as 'opportunistic'.  Generally when I write it is in response to an experience.  You may not know this but I am quite an emotional person (tongue in cheek) so anything that awakens me generally inspires me to write about it.
I am proud of the way I navigated my trip from Comox to Shannon.  It was long and tiring but I did it.  You can only understand my feelings if, like me, you have a partner who likes to have his adventures well scripted.  I seldom worry about anything when we travel as I know Bob will look after that end of things.  And I mean this in the best of ways.
Later today I meet with the group.  While we are a 'group', we are a group of writers and I am not going to lie, the word 'solitude' came up more than once while researching this trip.  I am excited for the workshops and hopefully some new friendships but what really appeals to me is the idea of solitude.  I plan to spend much of my time exploring Inis Mor with my camera, my pen and my curiosity, to keep all of my senses wide open.  I am here to experience the 'chance to go alone'.
An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach [S(he) who travels has stories to tell]