“My heart is quite calm now. I will go back.” ― James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man This photo was taken in May 2002. My first trip to Ireland. Alone, I joined a small group of strangers to hike the Beara Peninsula, West Cork. And I fell truly, madly, deeply in love. On the flight home two weeks later, I turned my face toward the window and sobbed. I felt torn from a lover whom I was never meant to see again. Ireland had changed me. I had felt on the Beara a sense of peace and wholeness I had never experienced before.   I’ve returned to Ireland several times since then, each time to hike. My husband and I have traveled…