Category: Administrivia

On this St. Patrick’s Day, explore a deeper, older Ireland: a land of music and poetry. Here is the tiniest taster of some of my favourites:

Ancient poetry
Pangur Bán  (A monk and his cat)
Summer has come

Modern poetry
Louis MacNiece, “Dublin“
Eavan Boland, “Quarantine“

Traditional folk music
Port na giobghe, played by Seamus Innis on the uilleann pipes
The Lark in the Clear Air (a poem by Samuel Ferguson) sung by Cara Dillon

Celtic trad music
Cúig, “New Landscapes”
Rura, “Catriona’s”

Modern folk music
Luka Bloom, “Holding Back the River” [lyrics]
Damien Dempsey, “ Sing All Our Cares Away”. [lyrics]

Explore the life and impact of the historical St. Patrick

Glory in the stunning landscapes of Irish photographer Steven Hylands

Someone asked me recently “how long will you keep doing this postcard thing?” At this moment, it feels inevitable, like breathing. I cannot not.

I know (I think?) there will be times where sending postcards will chafe. I may outgrow this project, or it may outgrow me. So I’ve made myself a promise. I’ll reassess at the end of 2020 / after postcard #100 and pivot or persevere.

Until then, let’s enjoy the journey together.

Appreciate the journey whilst working towards your goals

A group of my favourite people in Dublin are going through a tough time right now. A bunch of us have gotten together to send postcards of love and support.

With permission, I’m posting (lightly edited versions of) some of them here. You’ll know them by the ☘️ in the title.

If you’ve sent your own postcard of gratitude and would like it included in the project, tell me about it.

Delight in the extraordinary work of Susanne Jutzeler

No plan of operations reaches with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main force.

Helmuth von Moltke

In this case “the enemy” was reality (I hate when romance and reality collide).  I adore the idea of handwritten postcards, it feels so much more personal … but …

• my handwriting is charmingly (?) idiosyncratic at the best of times.
• the best of times is not sleep deprived and slightly hung over at 6:00 am in a hotel room just a few hours before a flight.
• when I looked at the photos of the message side I couldn’t decipher my own handwriting. 😳
• the postcards won’t reach their potential if they’re not delivered. Delivered to the “wrong” place is cool, but sitting in a pile of undeliverable mail is sadness.
• in retrospect, it probably didn’t matter much that I mail them from That Particular Place.

Lessons learned from the first 7 cards posted:

• efficacy > fantasy: it’s time to print the address, and probably also the message
• there is no rush: no one is expecting them, so it can take as long as it takes
• focus on outcomes: don’t let the game “from how many different places can I post these?” get in the way

I definitely owe an apology to the postal services of a few major cities (and my undying gratitude if the postcards are delivered). I should send them a postcard … one with a printed address.

I’m busy double-checking addresses and purchasing postage. When postcards have been dispatched, photos and stories will live here.