Saghas Leighis
Kind of a cure
Tabhair faoi deara: Tá mé ag foghlaim Gaeilge le trí bliana go leith anois, mar sin tá mo chuid Gaeilge ceart go leor, ach níl sé foirfe.
Note: I’ve been learning Irish for three and a half years now, so my Irish is ok, but not perfect.
English included at the bottom.
Le Déanaí
Tá mé i gcónaí ag smaoineamh faoi mo “presence” ar líne.
Seo é rómhór.
Níl mo “presence” ar líne rómhór, ach tá mo chuid smaointe timpeall air rómhór.
Ina ionad sin, scríobhfaidh mé faoi rudaí as Gaeilge ar Substack.
Ní bheidh impireacht á tógáil agam.
Tá mé ag scríobh as Gaeilge mar go bhfuil mé ag iarraidh as Gaeilge a scríobh. A chleachtadh mo chuid Gaeilge.
Sin é.
Cén Fáth “Saghas Leighis?”
Is maith liom an rím.
Cheap mé air nuair a bhí m’fhear céile ag féachaint ar pheil Mheiriceánach agus bhí mé i mo shuí in aice leis. Bhí mé go domhain i mo chuid smaointe.
Go tobann — cheap mé faoi saghas leighis = sort of a cure or kind of a cure.
Agus mothaíonn an Ghaeilge cosúil le seo dom le déanaí.
Téann m’intinn go tapa. Róthapa a lán ama.
Téann m’intinn go mall nuair atá m’intinn go smaoineamh as Gaeilge.
Seo é an-chabhrach dom.
Ach cosúil le haon rud, níl sé foirfe. Roinnt laethanta, tá Gaeilge dheacair.
Ceapaim go mbeidh mé líofa go luath. Léifidh mé gach uile labhair as Gaeilge go luath.
Ansin, cuirim an iomarca brú orm féin! Agus tá mé ag smaoineamh an iomarca!
Ansin, deirim liom féin — tógaimis céim ar chéim é.
Cosúil leis na hailt ar Substack, cosúil le gach rud i mo shaol — céim ar chéim.
Lá i ndiaidh lae, ach níl mé ag foghlaim Gaeilge gach uile lá, agus sin é ceart go leor, freisin!
Tá mé ag foghlaim Gaeilge, ach freisin, a bheith níos moille. Tá sé deacair dom a bheith níos moille.
Tugaim sos nuair a thosaím ag smaoineamh an iomarca. Déan rud eile. Rud eile simplí — seasaim suas agus siúlaim go dtí seomra eile. Seas ansin ar feadh cúpla nóiméad nó déan cúram simplí.
Stop na smaointe ar feadh tamaill. Tagann siad ar ais, ach sin é go breá, ansin déanaim rud eile arís. Ansin faoi dheireadh, tá mé ag scríobh alt as Gaeilge ar Substack arís.
Céim ar chéim, de réir a chéile.
Sin é saghas leighis!
Go raibh míle maith agat, a Thóin Gaeilge agus a GhaelSpell. Tá seiceálaí litrithe go hiontach acu.
English version
Lately
I keep thinking about my online presence.
This is too big.
My online presence isn’t too big, but my thoughts about it are too big.
Instead, I will write about things in Irish on Substack.
I won’t be building an empire.
I am writing in Irish because I want to write in Irish. To practice my Irish.
That’s it.
Why “Sort of or Kind of a Cure?”
I like the rhyme.
Saghas = kind/sort
Leighis = cure/medicine. Well, that spelling of leighis is the genitive in Irish. More info on the genitive here.
I thought about it when my husband was watching American football and I was sitting near him. I was lost in my thoughts.
Suddenly, I thought about — saghas leighis = sort of a cure or kind of a cure.
And Irish feels like this for me lately.
My mind goes fast. Too fast a lot of the time.
My mind goes slowly when my mind thinks in Irish.
This is very helpful to me.
But like anything, it’s not perfect. Some days, Irish is hard.
I think I will be fluent soon. I will read every single book in Irish soon.
I put too much pressure on myself, and I think too much (overthink).
It’s not helpful for me, but I do that a lot of times.
Then, I tell myself—let’s take it step by step.
Like the article on Substack, like everything in my life — step by step.
Day after day, but I am not learning Irish every single day, and that’s okay, too.
I’m learning Irish, but also being slower. It is hard for me to go slower.
I take a break when I start thinking too much. Do something else. Something else simple — stand up and walk to another room. Stand there for a couple of minutes or do a simple chore.
Stop the thoughts for a while. They come back, but that’s fine, then I do something else again. Then, finally, I am writing a Substack article in Irish again.
Step by step, bit by bit.
That’s kind of a cure!