Running In Circles

As I think about what it means to have successfully prepared for and completed the Dublin Marathon - a significant milestone in our 2DreamRunners journey, my mind is spinning in circles.  Our trip to the Éire seems composed of an intricate Celtic knot of intertwining circles overflowing with meaning and purpose. 

There were tangible circles made by our paths.

We travelled circularly through 22 of the 32 counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland, weaving left and right through small villages, vast peatland barrens, lush farmlands and forest and bustling towns and cities. And our circles wove briefly in and out of the circles of Irish people just going about their daily lives - rockus mobs of school kids cornering us in a Ballyshannon candy shop, in...around...and out of a million traffic circles, a cozy evening in a hub of Irish cultural intersection for supper and a pint of Guinness in the E J Kings Pub in Clifden, and resting under the safe and warm roofs of welcoming families in a bevy of B&B's.

The marathon route was a circle of sorts windings its way through all 13 neighborhoods of Dublin.  Running lets you experience a place perfectly.  The marathon speed is slow enough to let you take it all in and fast enough that you can see a good deal in a short time.  It's a buffet for the senses as you feel the texture of the road, hear the the voices of the people, smell the homefires burning and taste the sweet candy offered freely at each corner. 

And there were less tangible circles. 

Ireland surely deserves its "friendly" reputation!  Time and again the locals brought us into their circle of friends and networks.  We found the people very interested in our journey and eager to share their perspectives, jokes and warmth with us.  céad míle fáilte - we received at least a hundred thousand welcomes!

Circles represent unity.  Two weeks in incredibly close quarters away from the rigors of our normal lives sharing adventure and fun strengthened our family circle.  Nothing like a road trip to build our comradery - we laughed and enjoyed so freely - it was very liberating.  And we felt the strength and positive energy of our larger family unit back in Canada in a modern way through social media.

We were fortunate to spend an afternoon visiting the Newgrange Temple - a place older than Stonehenge in England and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.  At this ancient place one symbol is overwhelmingly present - the circle.  From the greater architecture, to the ancient megalithic art to the trinity of offering cradles - the wisdom and purity of circles are everywhere.  Precise engineering 5000 years ago acknowledges the circular path of the planets around our sun.  The passage and chamber are illuminated for 17 minutes on 4 days centered around the winter solstice.  For a very short time, the circles align and a very special energy fills the temple. 

In a similar way, our circle overlapped perfectly in this ancient land with so many others. For 4 days in Dublin we shared our stories, hopes, anticipation and success with many new friends from around the world.  We met, hung out with and said goodbye to Stephen and Vanessa.  And then just as quickly as we came together we dispersed all over the globe again.  It is wonderful that technology will allow us to keep building those new circles through the internet and we hope to converge again one day.

The 2DreamRunners vision is to help make dreams come true through the positive energy of health and wellness.  Our 2012 campaign is our first weave of circles where we focused our efforts to create inspiration through perspiration and determination.  Karen and I look forward to continuing to quilt together a network of our circles with those of others and make dreams come true.