On my first visit to Ireland I met a man whose endowed purpose was to Exude Love — amongst other things such as drink beer, smoke weed and generally be a nuisance.

Riley was a sweet character. We met when organising a Stuart Wilde seminar in Ireland in the Wicklow mountains. At first I wasn’t sure why he was there because he wasn’t doing anything of note except hanging around getting in the way. And he always looked like he was ‘on something’, but maybe that was just Wicklow – I couldn’t tell.

But Stuart assured me he was part of the team — he was paid “to not do anything except exude love” to all who were open to such a diffusion. Stuart believed Riley was special — he had a heart chakra that was permanently open and that we all could learn a lot from his osmotic proficiency.

I thought that Riley seemed to posses nothing of the sort but I went along with Stuart’s wishes as it was all very amusing and we were having a good old rollicking time.

The gig (seminar) was outdoors in a large tent befitting the carnival like atmosphere. I think we had almost 100 paying punters (attendees) but about 150 showed up. This was because scores of people (who had heard that the Wilde man cometh) flooded in from the surrounding mountains and we lost control of it all. In fact losing control of things seemed to be normal in the Wicklow mountains.

Anyway we had a carousing seminar which went on til very late and Martini and I decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Well, Riley said he would give us a lift. Brilliant!

So off we ventured into the night in dire need of sleep. After some time I said to Riley that this direction seemed a bit out of the way. In his lyrical, poetic voice Riley said that it’s a shortcut. Oh, okay fair enough I say.

Then we end up on a dirt road and I say to Riley, shortcut hey? He says he has to see a mate and would just pull in here. I say to Riley, not a good idea bro – it’s 2 in the morning, we are tired and in need of a bed. But Riley explains it was very important that we join him. We gave in, as after all, this is the guy that exudes love for a living, and he was quite persistent — but lovingly so.

So we enter the house and his mate is on the couch drinking beer. He greets us warmly and Riley starts chatting about stuff and then offers me a beer. I said no thank you Riley — what I want is my hotel bed. I start to get irritated and after a myriad of other nonsensical distractions and more offerings of beer and various other substances, we head out and make it to the hotel — Lord help us.

A couple of days later I was due to head back to London and Riley generously offers me a lift to the airport. Dismissing the risk of not actually making my flight and feeling in the need of some heart chakra vibes, I accepted. We were approaching Dublin airport and our conversation went something like this:

Riley: “I think James you’d be wantin’ some hash for the journey”.
Me: “No I don’t think so Riley – I’ll be in an international airport”.
Riley: “Oh na, you’d be wantin’ some hash mate. You’ve had a big time ‘ere”.
Me: “Riley, I don’t want any”.
Riley: “Oh yes ya do. It’ll be good for ya mate”.
Me: “Seriously Bro I don’t. It’s mad”.
Riley: “Oh com’ on. It’s only a little bit a hash. Take the edge off”.
Me: “Riley just get me there. Please Bro. Please”….etc etc.

So we show up at the airport and I get out of the car. Riley immediately presents me a small plastic wrap in his loving hand.

Riley: “Com’ on James – just a little bit for the journey. It’ll do ya good mate.”
Me: “Riley, I can’t take it. All this hash and these loving vibes are just too much for a bloke to handle.”

So we lovingly argue for a bit and I figure the best thing to do is take the gift before attracting too much attention. We say our thanks and goodbyes and in the airport I toss the hash into a bin.

Then it’s back to London where all is frightfully sensible.

I can honestly say that my first trip to Ireland, along with other things that were going on at the time, prompted a turning point in my life. For if you’re a personality type that’s a bit pushy and wants things your way then Ireland can be problematic. Ireland with all it’s charm became my crystal clear mirror. It was back in London when I had time to reflect that led to an important realisation. My need to control things, this insecure need to unduly assert myself,  was just creating friction and ultimately would get me nowhere.

That is why Riley was a real asset. To show us about love, letting go and enjoying the moment. And for heaven’s sake — chill out.

Thank’s Riley.

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