We are blessed with a small but fabulous choice of pubs and eateries near where I live. It’s a tourist haven for six months of the year, attracting people from all around the world.
It also draws people home from all around the world, to reunite with loved ones, have the craic, maybe an oul “dalliance” or two… maybe a bump of coke…
I recently read a non-fiction book about a colleague that was deeply chilling – though not, truth be told, terribly surprising. Of course, not every therapist is abusive, coercive, or amoral like the individual described in that book. And, on paper, this colleague looks perfectly fine. (Plus, oddly, I owe my return to writing to them.)
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I’ve been doing other things lately – staying away from writing, and from posting on social media as much as I used to. A couple of people have expressed curiosity about that – and here’s what I tell them:
Continue readingThere are a few reasons. I’ve been pondering each of them this morning, coffee in hand, wondering how best to fill the unexpected gap created by two cancellations – courtesy of this year’s remarkably efficient flu virus.
I’ve been asked a few times since it aired if I’ve met kids like Jamie. Truth? I have, yes.
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“I’m sorry” – powerful words aren’t they?
The best thing about saying “I’m sorry” is that it does all of these things:
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There’s a lot of talk of tradition at Christmas isn’t there?
The food, the shopping, the gifts, the visiting, the dreaded relatives…
But despite tradition, things always change. Usually without our consent. And some of those changes can be so jarring.
A friend recently asked me if I’d write a piece about loss and bereavement for Christmas. And something weird happened to me when he said it. I felt a block. I reflected on it on and off the past few weeks, wondering had my brain actually finally been emptied of words? Or worse, was it broken? Why wasn’t I flinging open my laptop to release the flow of unedited thoughts as I normally do?
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If you’re from Ireland, you may have heard of Knockadoon Summer Camps. They’re an Irish language summer camp, very popular, and just around the corner from me – well, practically, perhaps not quite literally…
Anyway, a friend of mine had her 2 kids there for the 2nd or 3rd consecutive year and I decided to pop over and meet them all, see how they were getting on. Maybe try and get some scandal re potential romances etc – y’know, the usual old-person-embarrassment rituals (they’re so tolerant of me these two!)
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Mixed messaging much??
“Be Kind” is something we hear a lot growing up – especially, but not exclusively of course, women.
And kindness is so, so important. So basic, so simple. If everyone were kind, the events we are currently witnessing would simply be alien to us. There would be no Putins. I can (and do) dream…
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“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea — whether it is to sail or to watch it — we are going back from whence we came.”
– John F. Kennedy
There’s something about the ocean isn’t there?
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I know this is the exact opposite of how I normally speak but here’s the thing: when it comes to parenting and housework, I’d really love women to stop asking for help!
