Clare Mulvany 23/02/2023 Clare Mulvany 23/02/2023

Grief and Gift

Spring is attendant to spring itself. After a long sojourn in winter’s dark, first the budding, now the bloom. The daffodils seem early this year, but I have been saying that for some seasons now, as time and arrivals are being re-ordered, rearranged. Weeks seem to shuffle and certain openings jump the queue.

I haven’t know how to begin this post, for how does one learn to begin again? With every new beginning there are fumblings and fallings. But as ever, we start by taking the first step, or writing the first words, however imperfect. Where it leads, it doesn’t matter, for momentum leads us to follow with the next.

I thought I had started, of course, back into a busy university teaching schedule and my facilitation world; the noise and joy of that. But then, BOOM. Life offered perhaps the greatest rearrangement of all, death, and grief has entered into my bones to shake and remould the very shape of me.

You see, just under two weeks ago (as it only been that long?), one of my dearest, most beloved, most cherished soul friends, passed away. She was my mentor, my guide, my anam cara, my soul companion, who I thought I would be walking along the creative path with for many years to come. But life and death did their own shuffling, and now our path has shifted. Her, in my heart now, pounding it to life, to love, in an ever deepening spiral of opening and gratitude. I want to write about her one day, and sing of her vast and glorious depths, but that will come. For now her passing has blown me right open, and into that chasm I dance and cry and paint and move and laugh and surrender. Grief is teaching me to step into it like a precious gift, unwrapping the layers, finding gems, even finding the parts of myself I had jettisoned to the abandoned corners of my heart. Even in her dying, she is giving.

And through all of that, spring is still attendant to spring. I pick daffodils from my back garden, and bring them to her grave. The birds chatter, busy building nests. My tears move to mist, move to rain, move to ocean. Through the mist, an emergent rainbow. Everything becomes something else. I take a step closer. It is a movement towards. Towards what, I do not know, but towards. She always pointed me there. I am here to follow.

**Hello. I'm Clare**

I'm a writer, educator and facilitator, living in beautiful West Cork, Ireland. I love to share resources and learning to help harness the regenerative power of words, place and story. I hope my work offers nourishment for mind and soul. Thank you for being here. Clare x

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Clare Mulvany 21/12/2022 Clare Mulvany 21/12/2022

Wreath of Foraged Ritual

The ground had turned crisp and the hedgerow glittering with its own deep wintering. Into the early morning cold, our breaths made whispering shapes. Siobhan and I had made a foraging date to collect greenery to make some wreaths. It is something she does every year, and this year, she invited me along.

Siobhan is a very busy director of an Irish non-profit. Lots of our conversations circle the topics of strategy, fundraising, leadership, values and the constant challenge of trying to run social organisations. I learn lots and am constantly inspired by her drive and dedication. But on this morning there was going to be a different form of circling, and already it felt like those topics, somehow softening in this steady, wintery ground, could wait.

‘First you must find the right Sally’, explained Siobhan. Sally, or willow, is the perfect malleable branch for twisting and shaping into the wreath frame. Among these West Cork hedgerows it is abundant, and each of us carefully snipped a few rods to make some rings- enough, but not enough to impact the overall growth of the tree. Getting the balance right is the currency of the forage. I say ‘thank you’ aloud to the willow as I take my share.

Next, a few metres up the road, we find the long stands of evergreen ivy, which we will use later to wrap around the sally rings. Like verdant strings, the ivy will bring a reminder of the eternal cycle of life, and of the nearing Spring green, soon to bud. The ivy is in berry too, in brilliant bursts of inky black. A few pods of them will bring texture and seasonal colour to the wreath. ‘Thank you’, I say to the ivy.

And so our wintery forage morning goes, noticing the glistening in the trees, hearing the crunch of frost under foot, noticing the rising and falling of our misty breaths, aware of the robins and the wrens. Thank you to the moss. Thank you to the holly.

Soon our bags are overflowing, our hands near frosted themselves. So we sit in the car, sipping hot coffee from my flask, and tucking in to some cinnamon rolls Siobhan had made the previous evening. ‘Peak life’, I joke. It is a phase I use when I’m having one of those moments- those simple moments which no money can by, the kind of the wealth which hold both the ethereal and eternal in a joyous dance, ‘It doesn’t really get better than this, does it’, I turn to Siobhan laughing. It really is the simple things.

I think it might be a function of getting older, but the older I get, the less I care about things and the more I care about time; the less I care about presents, the more I care about presence. Here in the crisp and clear, was the gift of both time and presence; which felt like the very essence of the nature of a gift itself. ‘Yes, peak life’, says Siobhan, and we laugh.

…

Back home that afternoon it was time to make the wreaths. As I laid all the greenery and berries on the back patio, a little robin joins me. I throw him some seed, and a few of the red berries, and he sticks around, his companionship both comfort and delight. He is watching my every move, waiting, I imagine, for a wandering berry. But I wonder if he is somehow in on the ritual, sensing the gift of it too.

The first circle is the trickiest. I find a pliable rod, shaping it into a loop, then a ring. It pops out a few times, until I get the tension and the torc just right, and secure that first circle with twine. As I do, I wonder how long this tradition of wreath-making has hold. The circle of the wreath represents the cyclical nature of time. With no beginning and no end, one season falls into the next, and the next. Here in the midst of winter is also summer and spring, just a spin away in the great arc of time. And so we are offered metaphorical forage too; as chance befalls us, so too will change. In the depth of our own dark, is the seeds of the light. The circle can always spin.

After the first ring, everything else is weave. The ivy wraps, the moss is tucked in the gaps, the ivy berries give structure and depth. I decide to make three wreaths, two with berries as their headlines, one with heather and some garden herbs. Colour themes start to emerge and I notice more detail: the silvered backs of the rosemary and sage. I prick my finger on some holly. The smell of dried fennel seeds stirs something culinary inside me. My senses are alive. Yes, this is presence. When I am finished, I throw a few extra berries to robin, then find some lengths of ribbon in my Christmas decoration box, make a final bow for each. I hang one of my front door, one on my back door, and the other wreath is for a neighbour. Across the threshold, the foraged wreath- symbolic of cyclical time, makes an announcement each time I now open the door: the real gifts is in the ritual, in the making, in the presence. As I close the door behind me, my senses come alive.

Siobhan and I already know we have a date next year. She’ll bring the buns, I’ll bring the coffee, nature will bring the magic. Hopefully robin will stick around too. It may seem far away now, but spin the circle in the great arc of time, and we’ll be there in just the snip of a few seasons, which, of course, the circle always knew.

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Clare Mulvany 11/11/2022 Clare Mulvany 11/11/2022

Sustainable Gift Guide 2023

A seasonal sustainable gift guide from Ireland. Christmas 2022 all wrapped up

It’s that time of year when we are thinking about gifting.

There are a wealth of small, creative and sustainable businesses and art makers who need extra support this year just to keep the physical lights on. All ship internationally.

Here are few friends of mine doing some beautiful work, which makes for wonderful gifts.

Native Circles- Emily Archer

Native Circles : Led by artist (and one of the best human beings there can be) Emily Robyn Archer. Her seasonal wheels are creative reminders of the circularity of life, both big and small- from the night sky to the kitchen garden. She has some new prints coming soon too. I’ve one right by my front door, my threshold adorned with her talent.

Liadain Aiken Knitwear

Liadain Aiken Knitwear: Friend, swim buddy and fellow west cork resident, Liadain Aiken, creates beautiful knits from Irish yarns. From cardigans to kerchief, lots of colour and choice on offer, each made with loving care, guaranteed.

Cora Murphy - Paintings and Art Prints

Cora Murphy Artist. Cora is a long time mentee and has become a great friend too. Every exploring her own creative edges, she creates stunning paintings, from which her print range and cards evolve. Her new collection, Threshold, was recently released, alongside a new size of print.

Jiminy Eco Toys

Jiminy Eco Toys. Founded by the wonderful Sharon Keilthy, Jiminy offers sustainable eco-toys as an alternative to plastic and disposable toy waste. She’s on a mission to ‘inspire a playfully sustainable world’. If you are on the hunt for toys this year, Jiminy is a great place to start…

Mari Kennedy- The Celtic Wheel

Mari Kennedy- Self Led Wheel of the Year- Mari leads an annual Wheel of the Year programme. While the doors to the live group version have closed, the self-led option is still open- weave some Celtic wisdom throughout your days.

EEDI Studio

My former housemate, and dear friend, Eavan English, is an extremely talented interior designer and runs an online shop, with exquisite homeware, furniture and lighting over at EEDI Studio. Quality to last a lifetime.

And a nod to a couple of organisations

Green Sod Ireland

Green Sod Ireland - Save a Sod. Rewilding and protecting lands in trust, your contribution to Green Sod is a goes towards protecting biodiversity in Ireland. I’ve sponsored some sods in Cork, home turf after all.

Kiva.org

Kiva.org. A few years ago, rather than send out Christmas cards, I made a loan to Kiva, a global micro-lending site. I’ve added to that original loan, and now have several circulating to entrepreneurs and learning projects around the world. It’s like a gift that just keep giving.

And some recommendations from Readers.

Contact me to add your suggestions. If it is a good fit, I’ll add to the list.

A note from Pam in The Netherlands:

The Burren Perfumery. ‘Since I visited their shop in The Burren I have never bought a perfume from a large fashion brand again. Spring and summer flowers are my favourite. But there is much more, also fitting autumn and winter moods’.

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Focus on what matters most, and create an intentional 2023. Guidebook and an Intentional Year course coming soon. Sign up to my newsletter for launch.

11/11/2015 11/11/2015

Shop Update! New Original Drawings

A year ago I would have not believed you if you had told me that I’d have my own little online shop and be sharing my paintings with the world. Really. A lot can happen in a year.Roll on a few seasons, and some late night encounters with creativity, and out popped a series of creatures whose spirits and personalities somehow spoke to me. I have enjoyed creating them so much and I am also enjoying sharing them. So if you would like give one a home, and in time for Christmas, I have updated my Etsy shop with a series of these original paintings. Like this little Robin or this little Fox

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Alongside the originals there is also a limited edition print of a little red squirrel (only 25 will ever be made), printed in The Copper House Gallery. The paper and quality of the print is just amazingly gorgeous, and the colours so vivid and fresh. Size 15.5 inches x 11.5 inches. The original is also available. See below.I also have a series of beautifully frames paintings - if you are interested in purchasing one of these, please get in touch directly to arrange delivery/ pick-up. Prices of these range from €225 to €275 euro each (delivery will be additional).They'll make lovely gifts, for yourself or a loved one...