Irishness

Irish sensibility in a single phrase means, “all senses firing.”

A courageous openness and compelling urge to

move toward all things…

Daring to embody the full extent of feelings, sensations, ideas and experiences

Especially those which others might avoid –

Desolation, despair, disease, and death.

Irresistably drawn toward darkness, suffering and pain.

Curiosity for the macabre or raw, unbridled courage?

Perhaps they are one and the same.

Irishness comes with a certain measure of masochism

But not for the sake of one’s own misery,

But for the sake of understanding so that we may be present for another there.

Not as voyeurs, but in an overwhelming out pouring of unconditional support.

We’ve been there.

We know.

Defining Irish hospitality,

not by our food, our damp climate, houses smelling of peat, or the aroma of drying wool,

but by our ability to be with you in your pain, remaining there until every tear has been spilt, every rage unfurled, and every heartbreak repaired.

copyright Lauri Ann Lumby

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