Luck O' the Irish

Well the last few posts made promises of a wild ride for 2012. That has certainly been the case for me and I'm grateful for a few days of calm here. Today I find myself getting ready for my St. Patrick's day Yoga class tomorrow. I'm excited to be guest teaching at a free community class tomorrow at the Hyde Park Lululemon store. It's really a cool thing they've got going on over there. They clear all the clothes racks out the center of the room and invite a studio of the month to come in to showcase a handful of their teachers. When our studio manager invited me to teach in March, I jumped at the chance to teach on St. Paddy's day. I'm looking forward to celebrating a day that carries such sentimental value for me.

My dad was born on Galway Bay and orphaned at nine. He bounced around with relatives until he was old enough for Catholic boarding school. At 17 he jumped at the chance for a "new life" and enlisted in the British Air Force which took him around the world. He finally landed her in the US in order to live near his older sister. He was a proud American but I always felt like he often wondered about what he left behind. 

Thumbs up - our last parade together.

My dad was involved in the Irish-American organizations which meant that every March we'd be gearing up for the St. Paddy's day parade. Rain, shine, or snow we were there with our Irish eyes a' smiling. (Ah his deep brown, sweet, soulful eyes... I miss them!) 

In typical Irish fashion my dad always wanted to share the stories of his ancestors and of his culture. He was the historian for one of his Irish culture groups and I really wish I would have been more appreciative of those tales when I had the chance to hear them first hand. Now I have to settle for looking through his old notes and books.

What I didn't understand when I was young is what a miracle it is that the Irish race survived! That Irish pride is well deserved! They say that the Irish were lucky but if you look at their situation from another point of view, the Irish race was quite unlucky to have settled in a location that was so easy to invade. The Irish were constantly attacked and oppressed by many different groups. Perhaps there was some luck involved in their survival but there was also a lot of determination and resiliency. As impressed as I am with the survival of the Irish, I am more impressed with the legacy left behind. Although it may include some intense drinking, partying and a little fighting, it is also a legacy of love, laughter, poetry, song, and dance.

I’ll call this ability to experience a full range of human emotion as fullness of heart. I think of the lovers, the farmers, the poets who had to become warriors to defend their right to life. When I think of the Irish spirit, I think of all the ruins left standing across the landscape. I think of my dad's story and know that it is only one of many more even more dramatic Irish stories of overcoming obstacles. I can see the spark in my dads eye. I can still see him singing at the top of his lungs (completely out of tune and embarrassing me to death;-) and I can feel the joy of being lost in the moment amidst an Irish dance.

I also think of the Sanskrit word poorna, which translates to infinite, full, and complete. The idea is that a full life is one that contains aspects of both beauty and tragedy. We can't avoid pain or loss because it is a part of life. But, just like the Irish can be viewed as lucky or unlucky depending on your perspective, we also have the choice to define our own lives and legacies.

May we each breathe into the fullness of our own experience and possibilities. May we find a way to plug-in to our own inner resources so that we may each fully enjoy our lives and find a way to make a positive impact on the world around us. Let us remember that it is possible to come through tragedy with a clear, brilliant, full heart. Here's to all those who have had to fight their way to survive and came out smiling in the end. You are my unsung heroes. Tomorrow I'll be drawing on the possibility of holding space for the lover and the warrior in each of us.