Trasna: The Crossing Place...

This can be a beautiful time of year here in Southern Ontario when the weather is warm and leaves are in their fall glory. A time of transition from summer to winter. I felt compelled this morning to take this photo when I glanced out my home office window.

Trasna is a Gaelic word meaning crossing or threshold. I first encountered this word a number of years ago in this beautiful poem as I was finishing my studies. Fittingly that was the last day I studied in that building so the timing was appropriate!

That poem is on my office wall and I’ve often turned to it during times of turmoil, uncertainty and transition. I’ve also shared it with others over the years when they are in difficult situations.? For me it is a reminder that when unbidden we are thrust into trasna to slow down and reflect and find a way forward.

Our memories of Covid are fading but it was four years ago this week that I entered this “office” for the first time. My family thoughtfully decided a ribbon cutting ceremony was needed to celebrate the occasion.

I look back at that photo and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Some times were easier and some times were hard. That’s how life goes though and we often learn more during those difficult times.

Right now there seems to be a lot wrong with the world and it is easy to give up hope. Often in trasna things are getting broken that can never be fixed. That’s what the world’s situation feels like many days. How can we work together to solve problems rather than fighting and blaming each other? We can live without many things but hope is something we all need.

So I’m hoping as you encounter places of trasna that you can trust your inner leading as the poem suggests:

While you search your heart's yearnings:

What am I seeking? What is my quest?

When your star rises deep within,

Trust yourself to its leading.

You will have the light for first steps.

This is Trasna, the crossing place.