THE DISCORDANT NOISE
For twenty years, I lived in the high-velocity world of IT—a landscape of meetings, long days, transatlantic travel, and the relentless energetic hum of open-plan offices. For a long time, the material success and professional security felt like enough. But eventually, a quiet discord began to grow.
For almost a year, I felt my soul calling to be somewhere else. I tried to change myself to fit the role; I tried to negotiate, to coax my spirit into staying on a path that no longer fit. The soul, however, had other ideas.
Burnout became the necessary "emergency brake." It was the only force strong enough to take me out of a successful life that was costing me my essence. It was a rescue mission by my own spirit to stop me from settling for something that was so much less than it could be.
Burnout was not the end of the road; it was the beginning of the path.
THE REMEMBERING
The realisation finally crystallised in the freezing waters of the Irish Sea. Watching the sunrise from the 40 Foot in Dublin, I knew the path back was not through another boardroom, but through the land.
My connection to the forest has always been my sanctuary. Years ago, when my mother—herself an artist—passed away, I spent months in the woods, meditating and walking, allowing the trees to hold my grief. I hugged my first tree at this time.....who knew then that it would become a regular occurrence! Even then, my psyche knew what my busy mind had forgotten: that I belong to a long lineage of ancestors who worked with the energies of the land.
This soul memory stayed with me, waiting for the noise to fade so it could finally be heard.
THE SACRED PRACTICE
Today, my studio in West Cork is a site of Aftermath Alchemy.
My process is one of rooted stillness. I begin each day by clearing the energy of the room, lighting a candle to my mother, and setting out seeds for the birds that visit my windowsill. Through heart coherence and a deep connection to the energy of the land, I shut down the thinking mind to let what wants to become, come through.
I do not paint for "pretty colours"; I paint to speak to the part of you that is always listening. My work is a vessel for the peace, safety, and inspiration I have found here. It is an invitation back to your own wild nature—a visual bridge to the places your soul remembers.
S I N É A D G U I L F O Y L E