Dachaigh #1: Ro-Ràdh (an introduction)

Fàilte !!!

This is the corner of the internet where my thoughts and feelings have decided to organise, transform into code and set up camp!

For the anglo-saxons among my readership: ‘Dachaigh’ is Gàidhlig for home.

It is my experience that home is not four walls and a door but, in-fact, it is something far more complexly neurochemical than that…I.e. home is a feeling, not a physical place.

First and foremost, home is a biological collaboration between our hormones and their receptors - a collab that results in a deeply revitalising spiritual experience.

In its purest form, dachaigh is an emotion of contentment and love. In terms of impact on our lives, it is second only to the truest form of love from which it stems itself.

At home, peace falls quietly upon our minds, joy is reinstated in our hearts and our spirit is dramatically raised.

This feeling of unequivocal comfort and security makes way for healing whilst unlocking and nurturing all of our gifts and aspirations - it's an emotional experience indivisible from our potential to thrive. Dachaigh is about so much more than where we lie down in bed each night.

Although; we do tend to assign the word only to the places that evoke and awaken this much coveted emotion, and not to define the emotion itself.

The places that we call “home” are simply where the manifestation of the feeling can be associated with somewhere physical and tangible. For me, my magic dachaigh stirring places include: Malaig (A’ Ghàidhealtachd an Iar), An Tairbeart (Loch fìne), Waterstones (Sauchiehall street), church (anywhere and everywhere)…

~note: church is also arguably “a feeling, not a place” but that is an entirely separate preachy blog post you can eagerly anticipate~

But dachaigh is not limited to stay confined within the boundaries of the places that spark it; we can and we do carry it with us. To truly find home, we need to expand our horizons beyond the exact coordinates of our childhood bedrooms and search closer to our own hearts - we’re spiritual beings before we’re physical ones.

Dachaigh can be triggered by a person you love, a passion you have, a fond memory, a familiar melody, time with God - experiences that put your spirit at ease.

The clarity and certainty of dachaigh is perpetually ours to revive and recall into our souls when we need it most. Once you've learnt how to hold home within you wherever you go, when you're free of physical chains and fully present in your body…thereupon you can begin to live whole heartedly and without fear.

When we live for the things that bring out all of the love and joy and passion residing within; that is when we are most at peace and at home within ourselves. Home really is where the heart is; if dachaigh feels like a distant memory, one too far gone to retrieve, ask yourself: who are you living for? How are you living - what do you allow to punctuate your days?

As with all other emotions, it is important to express and proclaim dachaigh - just as where we come from, our physical home, is an important cornerstone of our identities so too are the things that ignite home within us.

This is what I’ll be doing on this blog.

I’ll post whatever I want to post here, whatever sentiments weigh heavy on my heart or won’t stop dancing around my mind; as this digital residence of mine is a space of my own creation and my own rules.

Here, we’ll have fireside (pixelated, but none the less cosy) chats about culture, faith, everything I love, everything I hate and the very yearnings of my heart and soul - all of the good stuff.

So, if you asked me to give my home a location, I’m afraid I couldn’t give you coordinates, but I could refer you to this URL as a signpost to point you in my heart’s direction.

~Rose

*This blog is meant to be a digital catalyst of dachaigh. I hope that transcends from here, and reaches you through your screen wherever and however you may be - at home or not*

A playlist for this post: [what I listened to while writing, songs that inspired me etc etc]

~Tairm - WHYTE

~In Praise of Home - Rura

~Going Home - Runrig

~Maymorning - Runrig

~Defender - Francesca Battistelli, Steffany Gretzinger

~King Of Kings - Hillsong Worship

~Those Nights - Bastille