The quiet moments in life, the ones in which you feel the most content, are the moments in which you learn the most about yourself. Those moments when your dreams give color to the world and a sunrise teaches you more than a classroom ever could. Those moments when the trivial floats away and you are faced with the true meaning within the world and within yourself. Monheghan Island is an endless collection of these moments and it is as much a part of me as my lungs. 

....Walking softly through the forest; an endless twilight of overhanging leaves. Breathing in the quiet air and breathing out everything else. Seeing the small house that a child made for a fairy. A little walkway of stone, walls of fallen bark and a leaf, placed gently, for a transparent roof. If only we could all be content with houses like that. Moving forward through the trees, the beginning and the end of the path obscured, only the present steps illuminated….

  …. Entering the small white church; regal in its simplicity. Entering not as a worshiper seeking forgiveness, but as a friend entering to feel the peaceful quiet. Watching the golden motes of dust drift lazily through the air, I walk past the rows of empty pews, to the old piano. Hearing the seat creak as I set myself down. Feeling the rush of air and relief flow past my lips as I press my fingers to the keys. Playing, not from a score, but from myself. My thoughts floating free as I let years of classical training meld into a few moments of simple music. I let myself create something that I will soon forget how to play, but in this moment embodies all that I am….
….Nighttime. Lying on my back; the dew on the grass sinking through my clothes to my bones. Gazing up at the infinity of stars above; a sprinkle of dust in the universe. Forgetting every day life, the struggles, the pain, the needless worry, getting lost in the paths of the cosmos. Feeling comforted, empowered and frightened by the vastness of the universe and of myself. Knowing that however I choose to use the life given to me it will change nothing and everything, depending on perspective….

….Throwing myself carelessly off the wooden dock towards the sea. Throwing myself against all the petty frustration in life. Throwing myself through my fear. The water catches me and I shoot into it like an arrow. Bursting through into air, tasting salt. Laughing, my eyes crinkling in the corners, at the cold….

….Walking barefoot through the leaves of grass. Scrambling up a rock; worn soft by countless small hands and feet; the path ingrained within me. Reaching the top and standing, shoulders braced, legs apart, facing the sea and feeling the salty air whip strands of hair across my face. Lifting my face to the warm light of the sunrise; splashed in an endless symphony of color across the sky. Stretching my fingertips to the top of the world and greeting the new day like a new life….

Sometimes it’s hard for me to express myself. I feel like I can’t find the right words. But on Monheghan I don’t feel awkward or frustrated, I feel understood. Because the world understands you, if you let it, in a way no person ever really can. I feel content there because I feel understood. As if my every fault and virtue were exposed and all were accepted with equanimity. The visceral simplicity of life on Monheghan lets me evaluate the clutter in my own life and shows me that life really is that simple. The sun rises and it sets and everything I do in between is my choice; I choose to make my life mean something.