Dearest Ireland and your Wild West heart, 

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to visit you, yet, Ireland. Somehow, I've known you my whole life without having met you, and always felt we would meet one day. I let it live deeply and quietly within as I dreamed myself into a beautiful life here in Colorado. That is, until this year. Your voice has been growing louder inside of me. I've been listening, and, somehow, I know I'll be seeing you soon. My spirit is calling me home and you are part of that path.

You and my mom have a very special connection too. She's been to visit you a few times and says spending time with you is like "coming home" for her. It's possible that you are home for her. Or will be. She may choose to uproot from her American homestead and find a hearth on your land. I would miss her profoundly, and I would understand. I don't know what meeting you for the first time will be for me, I only know that there is an unfurling afoot, and I'd love to be on your shores, open to that wind as it comes.

I haven't had the good fortune to travel with my mother since I was a young child. I'll be 40 in 2 months (from today!) and know this opportunity to experience your sacred landscape with my mom would be a trip of a lifetime, for both of us. There are so many places along your western coast that I've hoped to share with her ... and it would be a dream come true to sing with her in one of your pubs! 

There are many deserving people hoping to visit you and I trust that the person whose destiny it is to find you through this contest will win. In fact, as I was looking through hundreds of beautiful pictures to attach to this letter, I was drawn most to the picture (above) that my mom took of John O'Donohue's gravesite and was auspiciously led to these of his many wise words: 

“Your soul knows the geography of your destiny. Your soul alone has the map of your future, therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself. If you do, it will take you where you need to go, but more important it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey.” ~ John O'donahue 

With Big Love, Alyssa Graves

Tell us why YOU want to experience the ‘Wild West’ of Ireland, and you might win a free 9-day trip there, courtesy of Wild West Irish Tours and WOW Air. Get the details!