{"id":643114,"date":"2026-08-18T07:02:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643114\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T07:02:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:02:25","slug":"career-u-turns-im-exactly-where-i-am-supposed-to-be-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643114\/","title":{"rendered":"Career u-turns: I\u2019m exactly where I am supposed to be \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six months into motherhood<\/a>, Orla \u00d3 Regan felt an overwhelming need to leave life in Dublin and return to her native Co Cork<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She had been struggling with what was only later diagnosed as postnatal depression<\/a>. In hindsight, she believes she had antenatal depression too, but that wasn\u2019t picked up either, \u201ceven though I did stress I was not feeling good\u201d. She was told: \u201cThat happens; it\u2019s just part of becoming a mother.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I had Jonah, I wasn\u2019t myself really. I wasn\u2019t diagnosed, again, within the first six months, even though I was crying out for help to see what was wrong with me,\u201d \u00d3 Regan says.<\/p>\n

At six months, she could take no more and believed she was in no fit state to return to work as a project manager in the construction industry. \u201cI just knew that I wasn\u2019t me, I was turning in. I felt I needed to cocoon. I was just listening to my body saying, \u2018we need to leave this life as we know it and get down home\u2019. I just couldn\u2019t handle decision-making and stresses.\u201d<\/p>\n

All she wanted to do was to look after her baby and \u201cto feel good again\u201d.<\/p>\n

After moving back to her parents\u2019 farm in Mallow, Co Cork, she met \u201ca wonderful doctor\u201d who diagnosed postnatal depression. Once \u00d3 Regan started medication and attending a \u201cgreat therapist\u201d recommended by the doctor, her recovery began. But \u201cit was very tough\u201d. <\/p>\n

She set up a studio in an old hen house on the farm to do some creative art, as \u201cthat was all I could do at the time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Looking back, she says, \u201cThat was the greatest therapy and medication of all \u2013 and that turned my life upside down. <\/p>\n

\u201cI always say that through that darkness came the light, and an inner life which I would have probably craved, pre all of this. I always loved art<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0When faced by a crisis, there is nothing worse than feeling you have no controlOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

She had been studying part-time at the National College of Art and Design<\/a> in Dublin while working, before she and her husband, Bjorn Ludick, started their family.<\/p>\n

Regaining her health in Mallow, \u00d3 Regan believed she needed \u201ca little slowdown and a freedom in my life at that stage\u201d, which the art world could provide. \u201cThere were people buying my art and it was feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the 10 years since, she has built up a successful ceramics business, Orla O Visual (orlaovisual.ie<\/a>), crafting words in delicate porcelain. She selects meaningful or motivational sayings, including bespoke ones requested by customers, and embeds them, letter by letter, into sheets of porcelain, which are then inked and glazed.<\/p>\n

For \u00d3 Regan it is a labour of love as well as a business, and work that brings inner peace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just go into this little world where nothing can disturb me. I feel like I absorb the words like mantras. As I hand print the letters, I really pay attention to the words and it\u2019s quite an emotional process. It just switches you off from the world entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bespoke commissions are often from or for people going through difficult times, who want a memory enshrined or a special gift for somebody. As an empath, she says, \u201cI can really feel the emotion of it all.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer construction project manager and now ceramicist\u00a0Orla \u00d3 Regan\u00a0works on a piece of porcelain artwork. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien \"OrlaOrla \u00d3 Regan\u00a0says art ‘was the greatest therapy and medication of all \u2013 and that turned my life upside down’. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n

\u00d3 Regan also holds workshops and will conduct one in Fota House today, August 18th, as part of Cork Craft Month<\/a>, which runs until August 31st. <\/p>\n

Amid the busyness of life, more people are looking for \u201chands-on\u201d opportunities to try crafts of all types. Aside from the obvious benefit of having to put your phone down, craft-making is linked in studies to reduced stress and anxiety<\/a>, higher self-esteem and better problem-solving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so beautiful to watch because you can see how their focus flips into the creative world and they tune out of life for a while,\u201d she says of workshop participants. \u201cI always end the session with, \u2018Continue to feed your soul,\u2019 because that\u2019s the advice I was given in my therapy sessions when I wasn\u2019t well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life is an \u201cemergency\u201d, she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been there and it\u2019s hard.\u201d We need to make time for ourselves, especially mothers. If we don\u2019t feed our soul, \u201cwe\u2019re just dropping into the darkness again\u201d.<\/p>\n

As a member of Cork Craft and Design, she values the connection with fellow artists who understand this way of life and the isolating nature of the work. \u201cPeople may look at a life as an artist as an easy one, but it\u2019s not, it\u2019s just different. You are entirely responsible for its success, which is a huge pressure, and you can never turn off. Then throw family life and being a mother into the equation as well, making it an extra-tough role. Maybe people don\u2019t see that element of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonah is now 11 and the couple have since had a second son, Jacob, who is six years old. \u201cIt took us five years to consider having another child because it was a tough journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

We juggle life a little differently to the nine-to-fivers, but it\u2019s a lovely way, and the boys see we\u2019re both working with our passions<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Orla \u00d3 Regan<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There was no repeat of her depression. Instead, she felt the birth of Jacob \u201creleased everything. It was just a strange feeling that all the complete darkness finally left me in a way\u201d.<\/p>\n

She does not know if having a natural birth helped the second time. She had needed a Caesarean for Jonah, who was breech (presenting bottom or feet first in the uterus). Although with Jacob, she had the complication of giving birth during the 2020 Covid lockdown to deal with and not knowing if her husband would be allowed to attend. \u201cIt was really scary. The anxiety levels did climb a little at that stage. But nothing, thank God, after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ludick was there for the birth, but had to leave soon after.<\/p>\n

The family now live in Dromore in Mallow, not too far from her parents. \u00d3 Regan works into the early hours of the morning, if necessary, so she can be there for the boys as needed during the day.<\/p>\n

The money that came with her old job was \u201camazing\u201d, she says, but \u201cthe priorities since have changed\u201d. She is still occasionally offered work in the construction world, but \u201cI have closed that door\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her husband is self-employed too, as a sports coach. \u201cSo we juggle life a little differently to the nine-to-fivers, but it\u2019s a lovely way, and the boys see we\u2019re both working with our passions,\u201d she adds. \u201cHopefully that will instil in them, down the line when they\u2019re choosing their life path, that passion is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Candlemaker Sanja IvcicCandlemaker\u00a0Sanja\u00a0Ivcic at home in Carrigaline, Co Cork, with one of her creations. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien \u2018Candle-making helped me discover who I am\u2019<\/p>\n

Two weeks of walking the Camino de Santiago<\/a> alone was a huge turning point for Sanja Ivcic in 2024 after several turbulent years of family life. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t actually believe that one walk can change everything in your life,\u201d she says, emotionally recalling the 250km journey she made from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. <\/p>\n

Two years previously, she had separated from her husband. Then, in 2024, she received an eviction notice because the landlord was selling the house in Carrigaline, Co Cork, where the family had lived for eight years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t find a house and the prices were horrible,\u201d she says of her desperate search for a new home for herself, daughter, son and their dog.<\/p>\n

She had moved to Ireland in November 2014, just over a year after her native Croatia<\/a> had joined the EU. In her early 30s and keen for the family to see life from a different perspective, she came ahead of her husband and their children, Lorena and Noah, who were 12 and seven respectively at the time. Staying initially in Dublin, she availed of a free tour offered by her hostel to visit other cities around the country. <\/p>\n

As soon as she saw Cork, Ivcic knew it was the right place for her family, who joined her the following summer. Having worked in a variety of retail, cleaning and factory roles here, she got \u201cthe best job in my life\u201d in 2019 at a logistics company, where she still works.<\/p>\n

The Camino trip gave her time to reflect. \u201cIn those moments, something changed. Not just because I stopped smoking,\u201d she says with a laugh. On the road alone, but meeting people from different parts of the world and hearing their stories, she resolved to try to do something new in her life.<\/p>\n

\n

For a long, long time I was simply surviving as a mom and working full time. I was taking care of everyone else, but I don\u2019t think I ever stopped to ask myself what I enjoy doing \u2013 to let the creativity into my life<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Sanja Ivcic<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Happily, the threat of eviction was lifted when a member of the landlord\u2019s family bought the house and told Ivcic she could stay on as the tenant. In a new, calmer frame of mind, she started to explore what she could do in addition to her full-time job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I\u2019m artistic because I know the way how I\u2019m putting the flowers in my vase and the way how I\u2019m cutting the cake that I made. The way I am choosing my clothes and my jewellery,\u201d Ivcic says.<\/p>\n

Having watched countless social media videos created by makers of soaps and candles, she bought her first wax melter in the run-up to Valentine\u2019s Day last year. \u201cMe and the kids made the first candles. They were horrible, they didn\u2019t burn.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she persevered, creating not only scented candles but extraordinary floral bouquets out of soy wax, which she now sells through her own part-time business, Candlelight by Sanya<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s more than a business. It\u2019s where my mind becomes quiet when I\u2019m creating, and everything else disappears. For a long, long time I was simply surviving as a mom and working full time. I was taking care of everyone else, but I don\u2019t think I ever stopped to ask myself what I enjoy doing \u2013 to let the creativity into my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she runs workshops, she likes to see other people enjoying using their hands to make something. \u201cI think this creativity just quiets the mind \u2013 not because you\u2019re trying to escape life but because you\u2019re completely present.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'It's‘It’s more than a business,’ Sanja\u00a0Ivcic says of Candlelight by Sanja. ‘It\u2019s where my mind becomes quiet when I\u2019m creating, and everything else disappears.’ Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n

Every candle she creates has a story, she explains. \u201cI often know exactly where it\u2019s going.\u201d Maybe it\u2019s a bouquet for a woman recovering from surgery, a graduation gift for a sister, or in memory of a loved one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love the stories because I think every time somebody buys something from me, it\u2019s for something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making candles has become her way to relax. \u201cI\u2019m exactly where I am supposed to be.\u201d And being accepted as a member of Cork Craft and Design has given her visibility, confidence and new connections. Her creations are stocked in six shops around Co Cork.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The importance of understanding and accepting our feelingsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

For now, she is content to pursue her craft at a table in her kitchen, while continuing to work her 9-5 job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a man in my life, that\u2019s not important. Yes, I put lots of the love in my kids, but there is a love that you have to put somewhere. The energy has to go somewhere, and I think this candle business came out of it. I found it in myself and I just pour [it] into these candles.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was an ordinary woman with a full-time job, raising two children and just getting through each day, she adds, before the Camino taught her to slow down. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe candle-making helped me discover who I was when I finally gave myself permission to create,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s why I believe creativity changes people. It changed me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six months into motherhood, Orla \u00d3 Regan felt an overwhelming need to leave life in Dublin and return…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[5075,1877,84290,164,52,18,117,19,17,167,8107,2973,12000,80],"class_list":["post-643114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-camino","tag-cork","tag-croatia","tag-depression","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-national-college-of-art-and-design","tag-parenting","tag-womens-health","tag-work"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117115234575641850","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}