Croagh Patrick, Co Mayo, Ireland
As always when I travel West, with every mile I drove I remembered more and more why I love the West so much, and at the same time I shook my head a little as I wondered why on earth I don’t live there any longer (I used to as a student in Galway). But this may change, and soon.
I passed so many places that took my breath away, that I wished I had time to stop to take pictures. But I couldn’t; I had things to do, beautiful things!
I went to view a few houses, for sale and for rent, along the way. Now all I’m waiting for is my bank’s decision on the mortgage. Whichever way it goes, will be fine by me, I just want to KNOW so I can move ahead.
By noon, I arrived in Westport and met up with my fellow aspiring residents of the Cauldron Community (here’s an article), and I felt myself healing more and more. It felt SO good to be surrounded by people who actually understand my desire for sustainable living and community, and are looking for similar things. Some of them have already lived in eco-villages elsewhere in the world, and we all agreed that it’s time we had something similar in Ireland (there is a place that calls itself eco-village in Co Tipperary, but it’s basically a housing estate with a slightly smaller carbon footprint than any other).
We each shared our aspirations, our background, and what we could contribute to the community. As I listend to each of the others in turn, I saw them in my mind as part of the community and thought, ‘this’ll be our midwife… here’s the herbwoman… and the weaver… and the builder…” We heard the very amazing Tom Woolley talk about “hempcrete”, the latest in ecological building. Tom’s an architect who’s been involved in eco projects for decades, and he’s on board with the Cauldron Community, woohoo!
I hated leaving them all behind when I left in the evening but I really wanted to get back to my budgies. I drove home with a full heart and racing mind, and a fierce desire to do more for the community. To do that, the first thing that’ll have to happen is me moving closer, which I aim to do by mid September at the latest. A search for work I can do from home is going on at the same time, and things are beginning to happen.
Basically, I decided that yes, I’d love to live there, unless a mortgage + house of my own charms me into something else (although the chances of this happening are slim). In any case, it’ll still take a year or two before the community will be established. We don’t even know if it’ll really end up in the West, which is rather important to me. Things will happen when they can.
By the way, you could really help us out by making the project more visible. If you’re on Facebook, please go to the Cauldron Community page and hit the “Like” button on the top. It really does help us out a lot. Thank you!
More news to follow soon. I have a gut feeling that a lot will be decided by this time next week… watch this space…
My heart is singing.
Please feel free to leave a comment below. It will be visible after approval and I respond to every comment, so do check back later!