And I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinking.
Bob Dylan, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

What better place to stand than on the Ocean?

A few people have tried and succeeded. Some did it on their own. Some needed a bit of encouragement. Some required a bit of help. All needed determination and faith.

Believe in themselves. They could do it.

You need to know your song well before you start singing and before the hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

Then you can do anything.

Pádraig is doing this every day. Last week he did it with the help of some great people. And also on his own. Standing. Using his voice.

He is also doing his bit for me. He chipped in with his sisters – they all gave me a surprise present to go to a beautiful place in Waterford. Right beside the sea. For two nights of heaven, some of the time literally in the clouds.

Across the see, on the other side of the bay, I could see this house with golden windows which made me think of the story by Laura Richards. If you don’t know it, it’s well worth reading. There are many different takes on it, but at its core, I think, is the idea of perspective.

It’s similar to Ovid’s verse from his Art of Love: The harvest is always more fruitful in another man’s fields (Fertilior seges est alenis semper in agris) or, in more modern language: the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

The secret, and the lesson of the house with the golden windows, it is us who live in the house with the golden windows. Just that sometimes, we don’t quite see it that way.

But the truth is: we can live the most wonderful live as long as we have faith in ourselves. As long as we won’t get scared by the sound of a thunder that roars without a warnin’ or the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world. As long as we listen to the ten thousand whisperin’ and care about that one person starving.

We can do what others might think is impossible as long as we believe in ourselves. One day, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. But until then, we’ll enjoy our lives to the fullest, and the company of our friends and family.

I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains, I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways, I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests, I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans. And I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinking.