Currently my soul is being pulled between two worlds. 

One is the world I know well and was created from my trauma, a place I was thrown into through survival rather than choice. The other is only beginning to dawn and is born from hope. It feels like a fresh wave of air, smelling deliciously like a future full of joy. 

So while I sit in between these worlds, I wait. Trying not to let the one from the past hold me back while patiently preparing myself for the new. 

Creatively this has left me in a strange place. The swirl of imagination and idea is always constant, however, there is nothing concrete showing up on the page. I am waiting for what I want to say to rise. 

The core of my writing is finding a message. In the poems and stories I create there must be a reason, a lesson for the reader. Beyond the creative in me lies a teacher, but this teacher is wandering the present without her lesson plan. I know this plan is actively creating my future, but I have not yet arrived at knowing the details. 

So what is there to do in the time between the leaps? What do we do with the feelings swirling around, the regrets, the anger, the loss – the past. 

Well, the only real thing you can do is feel them and allow the coarseness of the emotions to soften within your body. Surround yourself with the things that bring you comfort, good food, good company and find the laughter where you can. 

The comedy of life becomes essential in these times. There is an honour in surviving the darker forces and humour creates an energy that keeps you moving through the demands the world places on you – whether that be parenting, working, caring for others or simply surviving another day.

Whatever your responsibilities are, there is a quiet strength in the sarcastic joy of quips and double meanings. In finding lightness, even briefly, inside the weight of change.

~ Mairéad