Walking the Earth of your Ancestors, Part 2

As humans, we are wired to belong and to seek those places where we fit.

We do this in our families, in our work, in our in-person and online communities. 



Previously, I shared about reclaiming part of myself in Ireland, specifically my 21-year-old self who came home early from her trip to Ireland because she was lonely and overwhelmed.

During the trip I took a few months ago, however, I felt a deep sense of belonging.

My family and I visited Kilrush, Co. Clare in Ireland, the town where my paternal grandfather was born and raised. My dad wanted to see the homehouse, a slang term for the home of one's parents.

As we walked through town, I felt that I belonged there. It wasn’t just the businesses named Clancy that dotted the main street. It was something deeper and harder to pin down.

Later that night, we hosted a dinner with my dad’s first cousins and their families, none of whom I'd met but whom I had heard stories about. As we came together, I looked deeply into their faces. And you know what? I saw myself in them. I saw myself as if I was looking in the mirror. Again, I felt that deep sense of belonging. 

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On this trip, I also visited several neolithic sites in Ireland: NewgrangeLoughcrew, and the Poulnabrone dolmen. These sites predate the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge ... to about 4000-5000 B.C.

Above is a photo of the front rock of the Newgrange site. Look at those spirals carved into the rock! Aside from a guess that some of them were passage tombs, very little else is known.
 
Since I was a teenager, I've been wondering about why we are here on Earth and what we're doing. While at these prehistoric sites and with this sense of belonging, I wondered if the people who built these sites are my ancestors too. I wondered if  -- in a past lifetime -- I was one of the souls who carved into the stone like the one above at Newgrange. 

To activate your own wondering and sense of belonging, I give you the journal and/or thinking prompts below. If this calls to you, take some time to dive in and notice what you feel in your heart and in your body. 

  • Where do you belong?

  • Have you looked at other people and seen yourself mirrored back to you?

  • Is there a place or are there places that gives you a deep sense of belonging?

  • What's that like in your heart and in your body when you feel as if you belong?

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The sensitive soul’s Guide to Getting through the Holidays

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I felt like I was going to throw up.