tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51317077085513935452024-03-16T11:52:54.500-07:00In your mindAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06961764805095906768noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131707708551393545.post-31189395445268027932016-04-28T10:10:00.000-07:002016-04-28T10:10:40.415-07:00Towards a New Vision for Ireland and Emotional Wellbeing
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On Thursday 28th April, nearly 500 people gathered at the gates of Dail Eireann at a demonstration organised by Mental Health Ireland and the USI (Union of Students Ireland) to challenge the cuts to Mental Health budget. Below is a transcript of my address to those souls who braved high winds and heavy rain...</span> <br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Risk <o:p></o:p></span></span></u></i></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjn845wXLBzZV6HfvRcyYeqxG44GjwJkcdsf6Ib2DeZ4uNdsw8EdfqCvTHmlsB8c0evzFX8UViQBm-yxPLyqc0e-2BntVeJsdk9gUIOOHd5qPdEiw0lhNyKLsxdmy08B_jYcBRcvumiLM/s1600/Dail2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjn845wXLBzZV6HfvRcyYeqxG44GjwJkcdsf6Ib2DeZ4uNdsw8EdfqCvTHmlsB8c0evzFX8UViQBm-yxPLyqc0e-2BntVeJsdk9gUIOOHd5qPdEiw0lhNyKLsxdmy08B_jYcBRcvumiLM/s320/Dail2.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the day came,<br />
When the risk<br />
To remain tight<br />
In a bud.<br />
Was more painful<br />
Than the risk<br />
It took <br />
to blossom.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by Anais Nin</span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></u></i></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
temptation to lay the blame at the door of our politicians and political
leaders for the current crises that exists in our country in relation to the
mental health and emotional wellbeing of our people is in many ways justified
but is not the entire story and abdicates society from its responsibilities and
robs us as individuals of the immense capacity and power we all possess as
individuals to effect real and meaningful change in this area.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8nCoStUdi89cvk1NiPcb6DpG2Ut_OMLh-czMlaWg5BX4d3jWbfM2f6gyG0gzY22cRPPn6AX7WcXGr8ULuWmtxxBDa5jBR-NBoFl2uU27nhMRnOsisdic5wPnUXoOpjR0UJpEsYfXlPk/s1600/Dail5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8nCoStUdi89cvk1NiPcb6DpG2Ut_OMLh-czMlaWg5BX4d3jWbfM2f6gyG0gzY22cRPPn6AX7WcXGr8ULuWmtxxBDa5jBR-NBoFl2uU27nhMRnOsisdic5wPnUXoOpjR0UJpEsYfXlPk/s320/Dail5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The now
infamous image of a near empty Dail chamber during last Tuesday’s debate, an
image which has swept across the nation and horrified and angered our people,
an image that has afforded us all a crystal clear glimpse into how immensely
out of touch and wilfully ignorant Dail Eireann is when it comes to the stark reality
of what is being experienced by many of our people and how our politicians have
been complicit in perpetuating the stifling stigma that still engulfs this
aspect of the human experience.</span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Martin
Luther King once said that "in the end, we will remember, not the words of our
enemies, but the silence of our friends". Generations of our politicians have
ensured that our citadel of democracy and debate behind us has become a temple
of silence when it comes to the Mental Health and emotional wellbeing of our
people.</span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Silence in a
country where the scourge of suicide is spreading carnage, despair, fear and
terror amongst families and communities all across our nation, as witnessed by
the seven people that have ended their lives in Laois over the last three weeks
.</span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Silence in a
country where if you are a man under 50 years of age, your greatest chance of
dying is not from heart disease, not from cancer, not from a car crash or a
gangland murder but through suicide.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Silence in a
country where if you are a female you are two to three times more likely to try
and end your life than a male counterpart.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Silence in a
country where we spend less than 6% of the health budget on Mental Health, yet
the World Health organisation states that it should be a minimum of 12%.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Silence in a
country where the renowned medical journal the lancet has said that depression
is the leading cause of disability in the country and the number one reason for
absenteeism in the workplace.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Silence in a
country where on a Saturday night in Galway city, a young woman walked on to
O’Brien’s bridge, a suicide hotspot in that city, where the river corrib flows
violently beneath and the minute you jump in you are swept immediately and
without hope of survival into Galway Bay. As she climbed the wall and was about
to jump in, she was grabbed and saved at the last second by a member of the
Gardai. Whilst the Guard held on to the woman, a young student walked the very
same path and in front of the Guard and a distraught onlooking crowd, threw
himself into the river. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many
politicians and political leaders showed great courage during last year’s
Marriage referendum but seldom has the Dail or our country witnessed such a
cowardly and cruel act as the recent removal of funding from the Mental Health budget
where because of stigma,the majority of those affected have still not found their
voice and this reality has been consistently exploited by generations of our
political leaders. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They will
say they do not have a mandate from the people. Well Lincoln didn’t have a
mandate from the people when he began the process of ending slavery in the US.
He done so because it was the right thing to do. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John F
Kennedy had no mandate to engage and support the civil rights movement but he
did so because it was the right thing to do.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Connolly,
Pearse and the rest of the 1916 leaders didn’t have a mandate to try and gain
our political freedom but they did so because it was the right thing to do.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">More than
ever, we need our new Dail and this generation of political leaders to show
similar courage and vision to transform the deafening silence and ensure that
the area of Mental Health and Emotional wellbeing takes its richly deserved
place at the altar of equality and parity within the Health services. Not
because they have a mandate to do it, but because it’s the right thing to do.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And those of
us that are proactively and consistently engaged in this area are full of
desire and enthusiasm to support and work with our politicians to help make
this a reality. Funding for the sake of funding is not sufficient. We need to
embrace these challenges with genuine initative, energy, empathy, creativity, imagination
and innovation to discover the solutions needed towards new frontiers of real
and effective policies and services.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYupjqySuggrl2SdNgZotujwQC6v4MC3EbYGdhPL3ADee_DzXDHVLW_etVn48d5oSBksoXbFXHKsTkq3tUUi87iJpCq1TqxewsafUGQBc1MTG7f6ZaR9l8zy2vF7rBAqUuPLuUeEJsbU/s1600/Dail4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYupjqySuggrl2SdNgZotujwQC6v4MC3EbYGdhPL3ADee_DzXDHVLW_etVn48d5oSBksoXbFXHKsTkq3tUUi87iJpCq1TqxewsafUGQBc1MTG7f6ZaR9l8zy2vF7rBAqUuPLuUeEJsbU/s320/Dail4.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The message
needs to ring out loud and clear from here today, it needs to ring out around
the chambers of Dail Eireann and to our political leaders, it needs to ring out
around our educational institutions and to our educational leaders,it needs to
ring out amongst our sporting bodies and to our sporting leaders, it needs to
ring out around our workplaces and to our business leaders,</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">the message
needs to ring out that the responsibility to transform a culture and normalise
the conversation around this area rests with all of them and all of us, that no
longer and never again will the Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing of our
people be allowed to dwell in the shadows of repression and ignorance and be
cloaked in secrecy and silence.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That a new
dawn of hope is emerging and that this generation of Irish people are
determined that in their time, the walls of stigma and taboo around Mental
Health and Emotional wellbeing will finally be torn down and removed from Irish
society.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To finish
with, there is much fear that still surrounds this area but acknowledging that
the power for transformation and meaningful change rests with each of us,
individually and collectively, I’m reminded what the famous Polish physicist
Marie Curie once said ‘There is nothing in life to be feared, only to be
understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now is the
time, in our era for us to understand more in this area and we owe it
to the tens of thousands we have lost and are losing to suicide, we owe it to
the families that are left to deal with the carnage after the loss of a loved
one through suicide, we owe it those whom are living lives of quiet desperation
and silent misery with inner darkness, grief, toxic levels of stress or
anxiety,</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we owe it to our Mothers and fathers, brothers
and sisters, Grandmother and Grandfathers, friends, teammates and work
colleagues whom courageously and kindly support those struggling with some
aspect of their wellbeing, </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">we owe it to
our children yet unborn to embrace the Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
challenges of our nation, to deepen our understanding of depression, to deepen
our understanding of suicide but more than anything and perhaps the most
important of all, to deepen our understanding of ourselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By embarking on that challenging but liberating
inner journey towards our real and authentic selves, we will succeed in producing
the more meaningful and authentic connections and relationships that we all
secretly crave.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
dream that dwells within the heart and soul of humanity is to come into harmony
and inhabit the fullness of our vast and awesome true selves. <span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As human beings, we have only scratched the surface of our immense potential and </span></span>capacity to create a culture and society that is a nourishing force for human
and social development that will maintain our personal growth and social
wellbeing. That, along with what has already been said, will have a profound
impact for this and future generations of Irish people when it comes to their
Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">None of us can walk another person’s path for
them but we can certainly walk it with them. We have a sacred responsibility in
this small but great nation of ours to walk it with each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06961764805095906768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131707708551393545.post-14016836245021759212014-08-12T12:24:00.002-07:002015-08-11T13:40:36.570-07:00Depression Kills But It Is Not Here To Kill Us <br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><em>‘In a dark
time, the eye begins to see’ Theodore Roethke</em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"></span></em><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">The real lives of those we
know, need and love dwell far beyond their faces that are
visible to the naked eye. For many, their authentic selves and truth
are hidden behind a layer of masks, masks wisely and unconsciously
created by each individual in response to the environments and outer
worlds they inhabit. Each person is the sole inhabitant and silent witness to
their own inner worlds and the dream that dwells within the heart of each
human being is to be able to remove their masks and live and express their
own truths and authentic self. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><br />
The poet David Whyte says "The soul would much rather fail at it's own
life than to succeed at someone else's". As long as we continue to create
the environments where this dream cannot become a reality, we will
continue to have people choosing to end their own lives. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">In Ireland, we need to draw aside the veils of
illusion and see what the reality conceals. Officially, nearly 800
people on the island of Ireland ended their lives through suicide
last year. From speaking with nearly every agency and type of person
involved in this area over the last 12 months, all would unofficially estimate
the figure to be much higher and well beyond a thousand. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Based on the fact that men are more like to
end their life through suicide, the focus for the most part over the
last couple of years has been on the emotional distress
that men are enduring. Research shows that the rate of
parasuicide, where someone tries to end their life but doesn't succeed, is
three to one in favour of females. Over 60,000 people are admitted to A&E
departments each year with self harming injuries and the majority of these are
females, thus shattering the myth that our females are more effective at
dealing with or experiencing less emotional distress than their male
counterparts. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">What of the countless thousands that are living
lives of silent misery and quiet desperation. Maya Angelou, the American poet,
once wrote "There is no greater agony than the bearing of an untold story
within you". Many of these people live an unnecessary daily existence
of pain and suffering because of their fear of sharing their ‘untold
story’ of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, self harming and so on.
Their fear arises from the ever present dark and omnipresent stigma that
surrounds emotional wellbeing issues.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">The renowned British medical journal 'The
Lancet' recently published research which highlighted the fact that
'depression is the leading cause of dis-ability in Ireland'. The World Health
Organisation says that by 2020, depression will be the second leading
cause of disability for human beings worldwide and the number one
reason for absenteeism in the workplace. Our country, Government, educational
bodies, medical institutions, sporting organisations, workplaces and
communities need to draw back the veils of illusion and see what the reality
conceals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">A person doesn’t ever want to end their life but
they do want to end the horrific pain and suffering that permeates every part
of their being when experiencing depression. The ability to give and receive
love at this time is quenched from the strength of the blackness within, the
consequences of your actions if you decide to end your pain
permanently and the effect it will have on those around doesn't enter your
thoughts as they can’t weave their way through the heavy clouds that seem to
have an endless depth of darkness that engulf and surround your mind. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Suicide is a permanent ending of pain and an
eternal architect of pain. It is pure and utter carnage that reverberates
throughout individuals, families and communities that lose a loved one through
suicide. If a picture could be taken to capture the devastation that
saturates the inner worlds of these people, it might resemble the images of
chaos and destruction in the aftermath of a bomb explosion in a busy street. It's
been my experience through meeting many left bereft by suicide that the human
psyche can come to terms, in time, with the death of a loved one through
natural causes but it has immense difficulty finding peace with the loss of a
loved one through suicide.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">I heard a psychologist recently say "we
must declare a war on depression". I'm thankful he was never my therapist
and I would have deep concern for the people that are clients of
his. The weapon we most need in the exploration of depression is
understanding. The Polish physicist Marie Curie once said "Nothing in life
is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand
more, so that we may fear less". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">And now is the time to understand more so that we
may fear less. We owe it to the lives and memory of Robin
Williams, of Galway hurler Niall Donohue, of Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee. We owe
it to the thousands more we have lost to suicide and continue to lose each
day (3000 a day worldwide) whose graves are scattered across our nation, young,
old and in between. We owe it to those people that are never, ever spoken
about, the many who fail to succeed in ending their lives but whose bodies and
brains are permanently damaged for the remainder of their and their
families lives. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">We owe it to the bereaved who ask daily 'why?'
and may never get an answer, we owe it to the silent sufferers, we owe it
to the people who consistently and courageously seek support
and search for meaning and hope but are still engulfed in
darkness, we owe it to our Mothers and Fathers, sons and daughters,
Grandmothers and Grandfathers, friends and neighbours, we owe it to our
children yet unborn to deepen our understanding of depression, to
deepen our understanding of suicide but more than anything, to deepen our
understanding of ourselves. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">A human existence is the most complex story of all,
the endless flow of thoughts in our mind, the hidden world of the unconscious,
our dreams, fantasies and imagination. We need to encourage the befriending of
this beautiful complexity. As a species, we have explored the deepest and
highest parts of our Earth, we have travelled vast distances to other planets
but we have disastrously neglected our inner worlds.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">We need to go on a deeper voyage within, exploring
the inner vastness and caverns of our minds, hearts and souls. The task
of true knowing is slow and at times gruelling but must be pursued and
encouraged by individuals and subsequently society. It's the road less
travelled but the one that will make all the difference and perhaps the
answers we seek to our deepest questions are contained within the silent depths
of these new frontiers and unchartered territories.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">There are many hidden agendas in the area of mental
health and emotional wellbeing that are operating to deepen our insecurities
and fears and persuade us to be hopeless in the face of depression.<br />
<br />
Depression kills but it is my belief that it is not here to kill us.
The journey to wellness requires time and patience and is full of
difficult but rich and liberating learning. There is no one path, each
person has to begin and create their own but the giving of
support (not advice unless requested), compassion and unconditional love on this
journey from others is as important as the gift of your next breath. It's
impossible to walk that path on your own. No one can walk another person's path
for them but they can certainly walk it with them. We can and we need to
walk it with each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"> I have encountered a myriad
of situations, both in my own and through meeting and sharing that journey
with many, many others, to say that there is no such thing as a hopeless
person or hopeless situation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">We have this incredible capacity as human beings to
endure, adapt and grow through the challenges that life throws at us and to be
able to find meaning in our wrenching pain and suffering. Finding the courage
to begin the journey, discovering meaning in your depression
and coaxing harmony and clarity from the chaos of your inner
worlds is only one aspect of the journey. For some, the bigger challenge
can arrive when that meaning reveals itself for it will ask you
to emerge in to your outer worlds that we all share and be true and
real to yourself and to others in living out your own unique, human
existence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"> I don't believe in the word 'recovery'
when I think of depression or my journey through what was a decade
of internal horror and suffering as a teenager and young man with panic
attacks, depression, self harming and the most damaging of all, believing
my worth and value as a human being was determined by
the opinions of others and my achievements or failures in school or on the
sports field.<br />
<br />
The word recovery suggests you return to a previous state of wellness or
being. For me, that is not the true purpose
of depression. Depression forced me down a path, a path I initially
feared, which led me to witnessing the powerful freedom that flourishes within
when I drew aside my own veils of illusion and began to see the world
and myself anew from the solidity and sanctuary of my own real self,
where my worth and value were determined through the authentic lens of my own
eyes and where I was able to dissolve the old cages that had confined me in an
unlived life and become the sculptor and not the sculpted of my life. <br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">
</span><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">
Individuals, communities, Governments and countries all have finite resources when it
comes to money to create professional support services for people with their physical health and emotional wellbeing challenges. History and the present day has taught us that emotional wellbeing has and will remain for a long time to come a vastly underfunded, under researched and under resourced area of the health service. To blame others though is to remove accountability and the power we each possess as individuals to create real and lasting change in this aspect of life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">The world of suicide is complex and there may appear to be no easy solutions. One thing is certain though and perhaps even simple, the fundamental need of each person to be loved and to be able to love unconditionally. As human beings, we have
infinite reservoirs when it comes to kindness, compassion and love. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">The Sufi poet Hafiz wrote 2,500 years ago<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">'Jump to your feet,<br /> Wave your fists,<br /> Threaten and warn the world.<br /> That your heart can no longer live,<br /> Without real and authentic love'.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Maybe it's as simple as that...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">In the words of Auden</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span> <span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">"Either we love or we
die" </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06961764805095906768noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131707708551393545.post-57837190749436029472014-08-03T02:30:00.005-07:002014-08-03T03:01:25.011-07:00'Coming Home' To The Truth Of Your Real Self<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYsupTxMM3IXTzQHNVS5MNjvQrJnM0lyLg0QzAPxRNoErs7pjb4ZBQwHVTSzYibUBojNAsPxmYqG6e92OQRLuii1hY-0nKNg9E3ieG8TyrqrxP8CeDRFNVyN08L5UmOc80wnKob6fAtA/s1600/samesexlove2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYsupTxMM3IXTzQHNVS5MNjvQrJnM0lyLg0QzAPxRNoErs7pjb4ZBQwHVTSzYibUBojNAsPxmYqG6e92OQRLuii1hY-0nKNg9E3ieG8TyrqrxP8CeDRFNVyN08L5UmOc80wnKob6fAtA/s1600/samesexlove2.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Isaac
Newton was trying to discover the mystery of white light, one can only imagine
the wonder and excitement he experienced when he placed a prism in it’s path
that revealed the vast spectrum of colours contained within. Previously thought
of as being an entity of it’s own, he discovered the essence of light was the
amalgamation of several different colours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We don’t
need a prism to recreate this amazing experience today, nature takes care of it
in her own mystical way. Each rainbow is a glimpse into the realm of the
invisible world that surrounds us as daylight hits a water droplet to display
the secret parquet of colours that dwell within light. Gazing at a rainbow
captures the heart and fires the imagination as we amaze at its beauty and
wonder and elusiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EhT9WbVy7vMs-jtuW65VnvmKFGgzTZAHlOAQ50i79CT7im_nQrzV56XMvRUljmA1jfFhhMbpMfilfo4JSIrDm-CQeRuCH7QRlnpFvUWgooxsAviRCeY43k4vsQsmp1YfdQgq7oRyVBM/s1600/rainbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EhT9WbVy7vMs-jtuW65VnvmKFGgzTZAHlOAQ50i79CT7im_nQrzV56XMvRUljmA1jfFhhMbpMfilfo4JSIrDm-CQeRuCH7QRlnpFvUWgooxsAviRCeY43k4vsQsmp1YfdQgq7oRyVBM/s1600/rainbow.jpg" /></span></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">White light
is a powerful symbol within the human species, especially for those whom are
members of the Catholic Church. People whom have near death experiences often recall
seeing a ‘white light’. Jesus is often represented in paintings and other
images with his body luminous from a white light emanating from within. One of
the central moments in Christian teachings is the transfiguration of Jesus on
Mount Tabor where he begins to shine with white light and become radiant upon
the mountain. The teachings describe this as the pivotal point at which human
nature meets God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">White light
doesn’t show favour to any one spectrum of colour over the other. It doesn’t
discriminate between the richness of its red or the vibrancy of its yellow. It
values and appreciates equally all the different constituents contained within
its<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>structure for it knows that without
any one of these, it ceases to exist in its purest form and can’t fulfil its
duty to bring to life and to view all the majesty and splendour that pertains
in this planet we call Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is there a
powerful message contained within the purity of white light and the
magnificence of a rainbow for us as human beings. Are they enlightening and
informing us that unless we as a species begin to treat equally and without
discrimination the vast spectrum of human beings that exist within our planet,
beings with different personalities and characteristics to their existence,
people of diverse religious faiths, people of no faith, people with different
coloured skin, people whose relationships involve members of the opposite sex,
same sex or no sex, that unless we can begin to fully understand and cherish
our differences and uniqueness as individuals and celebrate and embrace the
myriad of common desires that we all share, primary among them to love and be
loved, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that until that day arrives, then
we can never as a species reach the pivotal point at which human nature and
human beings can merge their independent spectrums of light and stand out in
their own true radiance, dwelling within that flowing beauty of pure white
light and achieve fully our boundless potential as spiritual beings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whether Jesus
Christ was the son of God or just an incredibly evolved human being is a discussion
for another day but his constant message throughout his life was ‘to love your
neighbour, as yourself’.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: brown;"> </span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sadly, in the
church, they conveniently <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">forgot to
teach and affirm the last part of his original message, to love ourselves. It
was wise of them to do that because the person that is in love with themselves,
not in a narcissistic way where they believe the world revolves around them but
in a way that they come in to an awareness of their own innate worth and
immense value as a human being, independent of anything they may have achieved
or not achieved in their life and the opinions and judgements of others, will
not allow themselves to be controlled or dictated to by any religion or
organisation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is nothing more powerful or with a greater capacity for freedom in
this world than the human self and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this
self always wants to be free to live its own life and express all of its vast
expansiveness, it’s emotional self, social self, intellectual self, physical
self and sexual self to name but a few.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44naSaoxuP_TbmBEKHgOfC_3aj50grJ0dQN5T4jhn5rpJaj1eiu4mk8OwFj45R8UOFWhM2VTuW5rl8j1BNnNrUZgXIqYSUjw8MtA1ijeOPaM8xi_6WDvbCtRO9A031X4HcuLUBXuXWlA/s1600/samesex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44naSaoxuP_TbmBEKHgOfC_3aj50grJ0dQN5T4jhn5rpJaj1eiu4mk8OwFj45R8UOFWhM2VTuW5rl8j1BNnNrUZgXIqYSUjw8MtA1ijeOPaM8xi_6WDvbCtRO9A031X4HcuLUBXuXWlA/s1600/samesex.jpg" height="231" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those people whose sexual expression encompasses the loving of a
member of the same gender, it can be a difficult and challenging journey before
you arrive at a point where you can find joy in your sexuality and fully
embrace and live this aspect of your life.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Depression forced me on a pilgrimage of exploration through the deep
valleys, high mountains and forests of the unknown of my interior life, a
journey that continues to this day and will until my last breadth is taken.
I’ve come to appreciate and befriend the beautiful complexity of my inner
worlds and realise that the journey and navigating of life is a path through
many forests of the unknown but that hidden within the silent depths of these
sacred places are many of the answers I seek to the deeper questions of my
life.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As I began to emerge from the darkest periods of my depression, an
experience that lasted from my early teens through to my mid twenties, and began
to come into harmony with my own voice and more solid in my own sense of self,
the old cages that had confined me to an un-lived life began to dissolve and
new frontiers of possibility and invitations for growth re-awakened within my
soul.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of those invitations was in relation to my sexuality. The task of
true knowing takes time and is challenging but once a glimpse of your real and
authentic self is experienced, once you come to see the defences you have built
and the limitations you have accepted in your life to prevent further inner,
silent wounds, you realise you will never again be truly satisfied with your
old way of being, the emptiness of false living so that those around you will
not be upset. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘This above all’, says Shakespeare in Hamlet, ‘to thine own self be true.
And it must follow, as the night, the day, Thou canst not then be false to any
man’.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s at this moment that the support of others becomes crucial because
being real in what in many ways is an unreal world can be a terrifying
experience. At this vulnerable time, a person may only require the presence and
kindness and love of a friend to enable them to summon their courage and do
whatever it is they have to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I reached this point in my life, I often read the poem by Mary
Oliver called ‘The Journey’<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>One day you finally knew<br />
what you had to do, and began,<br />
though the voices around you<br />
kept shouting<br />
their bad advice--<br />
though the whole house<br />
began to tremble<br />
and you felt the old tug<br />
at your ankles.<br />
"Mend my life!"<br />
each voice cried.<br />
But you didn't stop.<br />
You knew what you had to do,<br />
though the wind pried</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>with its
stiff fingers</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>at the very
foundations,</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>though their
melancholy</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>was
terrible.</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>It was
already late </em></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>enough,<br /> and
a wild night,</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>and the road
full <br />of fallen </em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>branches and
stones.</em></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">But little
by little,</span></em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>as you left
their voices behind,</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>the stars
began to burn<br /> </em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>through the
sheets of clouds,</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>and there
was a new voice</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>which you
slowly</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>recognized
as your own,</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>that kept
you company</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>as you
strode deeper and deeper</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>into the
world,</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>determined
to do</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>the only
thing you could do--</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em>determined
to save</em></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">the only
life you could save.<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Expressing
an attraction to a member of the same gender is not ‘coming out’ of the closet,
it’s about be-coming true to your own self, answering your sacred and precious
self’s silent whispering and call from deep within, re-aligning your inner and
outer worlds to the tune and rhythm and beat of your own drum and returning
home to the sanctuary and dignity of your soul where the silence and stillness
of an empty church sit side by side with the energy and fire of a rampant
volcano.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EhT9WbVy7vMs-jtuW65VnvmKFGgzTZAHlOAQ50i79CT7im_nQrzV56XMvRUljmA1jfFhhMbpMfilfo4JSIrDm-CQeRuCH7QRlnpFvUWgooxsAviRCeY43k4vsQsmp1YfdQgq7oRyVBM/s1600/rainbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Ireland,
there may not be groups attending events waving banners opposing homosexuality,
there may not be gangs stalking the streets and hunting down people attracted
to members of the same sex and torturing or killing them like there are in
other parts of the world but in definite, subtle ways, there are subliminal
messages lingering in the atmosphere of our society and are absorbed and seep
into the minds and actions of individuals that being in the minority in terms
of the expression of your sexuality means you are somehow ‘less than’ as a
human being. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The words used by our young people in schools and coaches of
sports teams to describe a boy or man as weak, the stereotyping in public
forums of what it is to be a ‘gay’ man, Section 37 of the Employment Equality
Act which ensures legalised discrimination against people labelled transgender,
bisexual, lesbian and gay in the education and healthcare sectors, the
inequality under the law for those whom choose to marry, all in their own explicit
way combine to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>espouse and maybe
unintentionally, certainly encourage and give fuel to the continued ‘less than’
message. Nearly all of these actions find their sources in the echoes of
previous generations where the shackling and repression of the human spirit and
self was enforced and liberation and the championing of the uniqueness and
differences of each individual was denied. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sadly, for
some individuals that continue to promote this message, they have failed to
emerge from their shells of antiquity, continuing to live the life of others,
their voices not their own but belonging to an era long gone. ‘Truth alone will
endure’ says Gandhi, ‘all the rest will be washed away before the tide of
time’. Tide and time waits for no man and despite the efforts of some to cling
to the past, the truth of ‘all men being created equal’ will always endure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYxkljw_4zgxDNz92OghlNxtJP0OMaVFelNwsStV41So2bnqSX81mwxAxScKXHXiRH72o5-P3gNiVWI7vgZzmfOaMxUEwLa-aGLE0O0g-DHzWS7J4vwcGqSc5kB3fQGhttIz-iopHvP4/s1600/maya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYxkljw_4zgxDNz92OghlNxtJP0OMaVFelNwsStV41So2bnqSX81mwxAxScKXHXiRH72o5-P3gNiVWI7vgZzmfOaMxUEwLa-aGLE0O0g-DHzWS7J4vwcGqSc5kB3fQGhttIz-iopHvP4/s1600/maya.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For some,
the discovery that they are attracted to a member of the same sex can be a
tortuous experience. Maya Angelou once said ‘There is no greater agony than the
bearing of an untold story within you’. There is a certain joy in remaining
hidden but it is a terrible tragedy if the real you can never be found. For
many reasons and ones which are unique to each individual, some people have to
de-press their attraction to a fellow man or woman and live lives of quiet
desperation, silent misery and dark depression. The agony of their untold
stories is carried to their graves, either through natural death or the ending
of their lives through suicide. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No human being emerges from their mother’s womb
feeling fearful and anxious about themselves, feeling frightened about being
true to themselves, feeling ‘less than’ as a human being, feeling they have to
hide their love. Its society that creates the culture and atmosphere that makes
people feel like that and society is only ever a collection of individuals. In
Ireland, the saying goes ‘It takes a community to raise a child’ so in various
ways, we all carry a portion of shame for the fact that some people within our
society feel they have to end their precious life because of whom they choose
to love. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUZJT_fbH0877-Ga9Q0Q2EWyVA48XmnIfnk5c_8PRii1WYfz42OpfoTu7pcmV983RDT_gJtUZM0jv2YOc2SJDskvF69VPKbraJ4_ak0Wu4jsVgyGSlguscRzvXtTS7Vf8mc4-QT2q0w8/s1600/20140803_093647-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjUZJT_fbH0877-Ga9Q0Q2EWyVA48XmnIfnk5c_8PRii1WYfz42OpfoTu7pcmV983RDT_gJtUZM0jv2YOc2SJDskvF69VPKbraJ4_ak0Wu4jsVgyGSlguscRzvXtTS7Vf8mc4-QT2q0w8/s1600/20140803_093647-1.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The theme of
Cork Pride in 2014 is about celebrating heroes. If the word hero encompasses
the fact that behind the veil of each human being and hero is the reality that
each carries his own flaws and shadows within the beautiful complexity of their
interior world, that no human being or hero is ever a finished thing, that
because of the vast expansiveness and boundless depth within their souls, we
can only ever glimpse or know about a small portion of their life story, then
we have many heroes in our midst, some well known public figures and others
whose actions and deeds may never garner the headlines but whom touch people’s
lives in profound and meaningful ways. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">David Norris proved to be a beacon of
light in a very dark Ireland for many in years gone by and he has passed the
torch he carried with such Olympic endeavour in to the capable hands of Jerry
Buttimer and John Lyons whose proud voices ring true and loud around the
hallowed halls of power in Dail Eireann. Ruairi Quinn and Alan Shatter, with
support from the Fine Gael and Labour parties have furthered the cause of the
minority during their terms in office. Eileen Gamble bravely continues to
highlight the plight of teachers whom can still lose their jobs because of whom
they choose to love and Colm O’Gorman’s reasoned and measured points of view
during many a debate in his pursuit of equality for married couples stirs the
heart with joy. Rory O’Neill through the power and eloquence of his voice and the
force and magic of his personality inspires all whom hear or watch him. The
many organisations <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>like the Other Place
in Cork, GLEN and Belongto continue to be sanctuaries of support and shelters
of love, kindness and hope for many people where they can discover their own
courage to be true to themselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Donal Og is
a trailblazer for sportsmen the world over and the warm acceptance from his
fellow players and the watershed speech from Dublin footballer Ger Brennan from
the steps of the Hogan Stand in Croke Park where he thanked the players
girlfriends and boyfriends, sends out a potent message to all people in our
society from the most powerful sporting organisation in the country that it’s
ok to be gay and certainly ok to be gay in the GAA.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All of these
and many more continue to be rainbows in the cloud of discrimination, violence,
inequality and intolerance that still engulf our country and world towards individuals
in society.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXwiu3SC0pntDayeoeS0v5y5k53SpihQgjnroMQtRY6cOT04HfZkhOlf5dMJFloE9rFboOSZQFuAREjcM_cY1B2NfkLrCG5n8J4RWrBPme7-lBvLw8Fy4GlzIgnUNgFkq_wZhPuQHBx8/s1600/rainbowflag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXwiu3SC0pntDayeoeS0v5y5k53SpihQgjnroMQtRY6cOT04HfZkhOlf5dMJFloE9rFboOSZQFuAREjcM_cY1B2NfkLrCG5n8J4RWrBPme7-lBvLw8Fy4GlzIgnUNgFkq_wZhPuQHBx8/s1600/rainbowflag.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the
artist Gilbert Baker designed the colours for the flag to represent ‘Pride’
back in 1978, he chose well. As discovered by Newton, the colours of the
rainbow, fashioned from the forces of nature deep in the universe, combine to
produce the brilliant white light that brings life and beauty to all things on
our planet. We too have come from the stars and the white light, the oxygen we
breathe, the carbon in our muscles, the calcium in our bones, the iron in our
blood, all of them were forged from the fiery hearts of long vanished stars. We
are pilgrims on a voyage through an earthly plane, spiritual beings whom have
stopped off on our cosmic journey to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to
share. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The prism of
life has split us all into different colours and forms but the rainbow and
white light teaches us that none are more important or more equal than the
other. Somewhere, deep in the caverns of our being, is the memory that we all
come from the same source of white light, hetero or homosexual, Christian or
Buddhist, male and female, Catholic or Protestant. Our quest surely is to
remember and live out that truth during our time on Earth. There is a hunger
and deep desire within every human heart that propels us to want to return home
to the light of our real selves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we can, if we can reach the point where all
spectrums of our people are valued equally and combine our beautiful
complexities of colours together, the white light of truth and love will not only
exist in the heavans but will radiate out on this Earth for all of us to bask
and dwell in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinu7d4h6MKWlYry6w964cKNy-_wMb3biGalPFDHAOj7pnPg3s8kOamhmJG3H6Guhh3qJGKBGa53vG5Px68VZTxcz6PGbZOUsW9lXMWtAyMZHmBtQyMs8W2TR2XctrNKTQpe-oHQ_NcsZ0/s1600/betrueconor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinu7d4h6MKWlYry6w964cKNy-_wMb3biGalPFDHAOj7pnPg3s8kOamhmJG3H6Guhh3qJGKBGa53vG5Px68VZTxcz6PGbZOUsW9lXMWtAyMZHmBtQyMs8W2TR2XctrNKTQpe-oHQ_NcsZ0/s1600/betrueconor.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The ‘Pride’
march is not just a march to represent individuals whom are labelled gay,
lesbian, bisexual or transgender. It’s a march to represent all of humanity and
its continued pursuit of equality and harmony for all. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wish you
all well on our continued journey together, home to the pure white light and
beauty of our real selves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>This piece was initially written for the Cork LGBT Pride Festival Magazine for August 2014 </em> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="color: brown; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06961764805095906768noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131707708551393545.post-37808839339228445132014-05-12T12:41:00.002-07:002014-05-12T12:41:31.082-07:00Pieta House, Cycle Against Suicide and the GPA leading us into 'forests of the unknown'...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR8MZaFevl1RyLseOxcpTx-mNr9a8pE6C7sAja-f_8BGWjcjIAx7CQNI0OQj___0kojNT6PYJzTIN_ansfAt2HZFcflmv0owtw9oBDIroQn2KEeh-oPC8j4zPc9lEaAS62XLsyh19QQfk/s1600/hope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR8MZaFevl1RyLseOxcpTx-mNr9a8pE6C7sAja-f_8BGWjcjIAx7CQNI0OQj___0kojNT6PYJzTIN_ansfAt2HZFcflmv0owtw9oBDIroQn2KEeh-oPC8j4zPc9lEaAS62XLsyh19QQfk/s1600/hope.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I’m not a
great sleeper. Sleep has been one of the few casualties since my experiences
with severe depression and anxiety during my teens and early twenties. Whilst
everything else has recovered well, sleep is taking that bit longer to resolve
so the phone doesn’t wake me when it rings at 4am. 21 year old Eric’s name
flashes across the screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">We have been
sharing e-mails over the last couple of weeks and one phone call. From his
first mail, it was obvious Eric was in a dark place in his life. It’s obvious
from the tone and emotion in his voice on the phone now that the darkness has finally
emptied his reserves of fight and flight has now become a very real possibility
for him. His family took him to the A&E department a few hours ago because
he told them he was feeling suicidal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">A couple of
hours later, he is discharged with an appointment to see a psychiatrist in 3
weeks. Instantly, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a friend of mine
recently who is a member of the Garda Siochana. He explained to me of how he is
sick and tired of getting calls to family homes in the middle of the night and
bringing a person who is in a distressed state to an A&E Department and a
few hours later, receiving another call and cutting the same person down from a
tree or pulling them out of a river.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">Eric doesn’t
have three weeks now. He may not have three hours. We chat over the phone as
the darkness turns to dawn outside. I tell Eric about Pieta House. How I was
invited by Joan Freeman to visit their new Pieta House in Cork City and how I
instantly fell in love with the place and why I did. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">When my
parents were taking me to see various different psychiatrists during my
difficulties, I always disliked the atmosphere and coldness that permeated
these buildings and nothing reflected this better that the white walls and blinding
white lights in the ceiling of these offices. You almost felt like you were a
product being brought in to a sterile cleanroom in a lab, about to be inspected
and dissected by some ‘expert’ who would find what fault you had, produce a
fancy and intellectual sounding label/diagnosis that would keep them happy but
be never adequate to reflect the immense depth within each human being. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I explained
to Eric the warmth of Pieta and it’s staff, how the therapist sits on a soft
chair that results in them looking up to you, almost in an act of worship at
your courage in sharing your story, how the building is like a family home with
warm light and even warmer people. There are no ‘experts’ in Pieta on another person’s
life or their solutions to it, or at least I hope there are not, but people who
will sit, and listen, and be with you during this difficult time in an unconditionally
loving and non judgemental way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">Eric has
been through the Pieta system now and it has helped him to emerge from his
period where he didn't wanted to finish his life but to end the immense darkness
and pain he was engulfed in. Eric has a long road ahead of him that will be
full of rich and difficult but ultimately liberating learning. Because of Pieta
and a support group around him, he now carries that magical ingredient that
sustains us all at periods during our life, he has hope back in his life again.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">Niamh
Connolly, Lorna Ferncombe, young Ruairi Conway and all the other volunteers and
people of Dungarvan should be very, very proud of themselves this weekend.
Dungarvan is a town that is riven with anxiety and worry at the moment with the
high rate of suicide it is currently experiencing. The ‘Darkness Into Light’
5km Walk/Run in aid of Pieta House was an opportunity for the people of
Dungarvan to show how much they care and are not indifferent about this
situation and by God, did they show it. It was an event that was organised with
military precision but enveloped by an atmosphere of kindness, compassion and
empathy, qualities formed in the most powerful and strongest part of the human
heart that can reach in to the darkest corner of a human mind and re-kindle
hope and illuminate new and exciting pathways where previously there was only
dead, dark, landscapes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">The
thousands that attended each individually carried their own unique reasons for
being present but it was a gathering of the masses, a community fusing together
in a powerful, yellow glow of solidarity and support for it’s fellow people.
Niamh and Lorna and Ruairi are beacons of hope and light in a community that
needs it now more than ever. It’s because of them and many others that Eric
still has his path and journey of hope ahead of him. I believe the people of
Dungarvan won’t allow the energy and passion witnessed last Saturday morning
end there and will continue their quest to provide similar paths for those many
souls enshrouded by inner darkness in their town. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">Jim Breen
and his Cycle Against Suicide organisation have been blazing a trail of
awareness around Ireland over the last fortnight. In a world where most people
are trying hard to fit in but were actually born to stand out, Jim Breen is
standing out, standing out from the herd of silence that exists around suicide
and cycling out to the people carrying with him the magical mantra of ‘it’s ok
to not feel ok and absolutely ok to ask for help’. He and his volunteers have
been fanning the flames of hope for those who may feel hopeless and radiating
some light for those whose life may be cloaked in darkness. One of those
volunteers, Brenawn O’Connell, tragically lost his life last Wednesday in
Donegal. ‘A single candle can light a thousand more’ the Buddhist saying says.
Brenawn O’Connell will have touched the lives of many in ways that he will
never know and he and Jim and the rest of their army of volunteers will have
lit a lot of candles of hope for many thousands more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I travelled
to New York recently to give a talk in Yonkers, organised by the genial Kerry
woman Orla Kelleher who is CEO of the Aisling Community Centre there. It was a
real eye opener to witness how the stigma around depression and emotional
wellbeing issues is very strong in a country where I would have thought it to be
much different. Whilst there, I gave a presentation to the Gaelic Player’s
Association New York Advisory Board at a lunch organised by Teresa Ryan, wife
of Peter, the deputy Irish consulate and a man possessed with dynamic energy
and enthusiasm for all things Irish.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;"> It was obvious that Dessie and Donal Og
have crafted a strong impression on these people of what the GPA and the GAA is
about for they spoke with great respect, almost reverence, and enthusiasm about
the ethos of the GAA and the skill, courage and athleticism of it’s players.
These are serious and influential businessmen but after sitting in front of
Miriam O’Callaghan and baring your soul live on National Television, everything
else is a piece of cake after that. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I wanted these people to be aware that their
support of the GPA was not just about enhancing player’s sporting lives but
also about saving lives. The GPA recognises how sport is probably the number
one priority in it’s players lives but it has this wonderful, holistic outlook
that realises there are far more aspects that encompass their members worlds than just
their sport, that they wear and are more than their County jersey and how important
it is to not neglect their education, jobs, relationships and inner worlds.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;"> I
informed the Advisory Board of the 24 hour counselling service that is
available to the GPA members. I told them the inspiring and heart warming stories
of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alan O’Mara (Cavan footballer) and Niall
McNamee (Offaly Footballer) who have utilised this service and are now radiating
light on hitherto unspoken subjects and sharing their messages of hope that are filtering out to all members
of the communities of Ireland, not just GAA members. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">Somebody described Donal Og as a ‘GAA
capitalist’ recently but if he and Dessie and Teresa can continue to capitalise
on these people’s expertise to help generate the funds needed to provide the
counselling and player development services for the GPA’s members that have
helped Niall and Alan and more and will help many more in the future, then<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m very enthused for them to carry on ‘capitalising’.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">On my
journey’s and travels around Ireland to different events, I witness the growing
momentum amongst our people to see and embrace change in how we are within
ourselves and with each other.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">People are
becoming more keenly aware of the urgency and necessity for real and positive
change and are growing increasingly deaf to the worn platitudes of our authority figures in the country.</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">There are
more people realising that the dogmas and ways of old are no longer acceptable
and more again are finding their own voice and throwing off the shackles of
repression that have manacled generations of our people.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">The words of
Mandela ring true ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate but that we
are powerful beyond measure’. We need our leaders in Government, schools,
churches, sporting and health organisations to harness this
energy and reflect this growing momentum in their actions. The silence from our
leaders in Government in the area of suicide and mental health and emotional wellbeing needs to change.
It would be wise of them to call in Jim Breen, to call in Joan Freeman, to call in Siobhan Earley, people that are the living embodiment of the best qualities of the Irish people, creativity, courageous, kindness, innovative, imaginative, bold and brave. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">Our students don’t need to know more about maths or physics or computer
science. They need to know more about themselves, be allowed to be more in
touch with and express their real selves and live their own<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>lives from the inside out. From this place,
they will be far more productive, effective and happy engineers, physicists,
poets, computer scientists, electricians or whatever path they decide to
choose. It’s more self awareness classes they and our world needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I was asked
a really good question in America. Showing the latest research which proves that
despite what we might believe, there is less violence and poverty in the world
now than ever before, people are living longer than ever before and have a
better standard of living than ever before, there is more groups and
organisations in the area of Mental Health than ever before, this man asked why
is it that suicide is increasing amongst our people? I suggested to him that
perhaps the figures might be far higher were it not for these organisations but
on the flight home, I wasn’t satisfied with my response.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I reflected
on his question and I think it’s a good question for us all to reflect on. My
answer now to him would be that the challenges confronting our world in dealing
with the emotional wellbeing issues of our people are vast and complex but they
are challenges that need to be explored and embraced for the World Health
Organisation says that by 2030, depression will be the number one health
concern for human beings in the World, overtaking cancer and heart disease and
all the others. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">That we need
to look at depression and anxiety and addictions and wellbeing issues with new
eyes and a new vision that reflects the incredible capacity for a human being
to make sense of and find understanding and meaning in their suffering and be open
to the idea that there may be a wisdom, beyond what we have yet failed to
recognise as a species, contained within our internal difficulties and that
they may be an invitation for growth and transformation from deep within us. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I would say
to him that no matter how advanced our world becomes in terms of technology, no
matter how much or little money people have, no matter how long they live, the
cravings of the human soul and spirit and heart will never change. The inward
yearning of each human being to be valued and appreciated for their own unique
and sacred presence, the desire to love whom we want to love and the desire to
be loved, the longing to remove our masks and be whom we really are and not the
false image we continually portray to the outer world, the aspiration to be
free to express our immense vastness and limitless capabilities will always be
at the core of every person you encounter.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">That as a
species, we need to go on a deeper journey inwards and encourage the
befriending and exploration of the complexity of our inner lives, to not fear
our minds and soul that are full of high mountains, deep valleys and forests of
the unknown. That the answers we seek may be hidden in the silent depths of
these forests and that by entering these unchartered territories, we could
discover fresh pathways that lead us as a culture to frontiers of new
possibility and understanding in how we are within ourselves and with each
other that will empower us to enrich both our inner and outer worlds for all of
our people and our environment. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">Pieta House,
the Cycle Against Suicide and the GPA have summoned their courage and ingenuity
and are leading us into these forests of the unknown and for that, we can all
be thankful.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;">I wish you
all well on our continued journey together into the forests of the unknown and
the light of our own, real selves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06961764805095906768noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131707708551393545.post-5692663963591979672014-03-23T03:38:00.000-07:002014-03-23T05:42:08.701-07:00My Address to the GAA's Inaugural National Health and Wellbeing Seminar<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEipRPQssre_xb4xFf-IVL_fi6JAQMGrXSJDBuiyoQUukvnjArjWsveW3WUFZZrlvofFdMXb9ogTtLwWVyiGFL9_QiaD2CaBo5eddZJbJQvSg4XwSOXuFJ2vt4M05pQ6PRHtA93BiZIU/s1600/Croke+Park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEipRPQssre_xb4xFf-IVL_fi6JAQMGrXSJDBuiyoQUukvnjArjWsveW3WUFZZrlvofFdMXb9ogTtLwWVyiGFL9_QiaD2CaBo5eddZJbJQvSg4XwSOXuFJ2vt4M05pQ6PRHtA93BiZIU/s1600/Croke+Park.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">During the Summer of 2013, 14 of my club colleagues and I took
part in an event to cycle from Malin to Mizen Head over four days to raise
funds for our new club development. As we departed Donegal, leapt through
Leitrim, sailed through Sligo, rolled along the roads of Roscommon and galloped
across Galway over the first couple of days, we spoke amongst ourselves of how truly
beautiful our country is when viewed from the perspective of the open road and
the slower pace of a bike. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We crossed through
Clare and limped on through Limerick, climbed Molls Gap and descended the other
side, gliding into Glengariff and finally motored on to Mizen Head. Each
village and town had its differences, its own unique identity and landmarks
that set it apart from all the others. However, there was one constant
throughout our journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">That constant was the GAA fields proudly located in each and
every hamlet, village, town and city we traversed. Some were new developments,
pristine fields and clubhouses with the most up to date amenities for its
players and administrators whilst others reflected the natural wear and tear of
a busy and oft used facility, whose ball alley walls were eroded from the
impact of a million sliothars as a result of the daily practice of its players
to fine tune their silky skills, the same way a coastline erodes from the daily
waves of the ocean. You could feel the history and romance in these old venues,
the thousands of souls who must have graced these sacred grounds, performing
feats of magic and bravery with their camans and feet and hands. Similarly, you
could visualise the new local heroes that were going to emerge in the modern
club developments and create their own history, memories and unbreakable bonds
of friendships over the coming decades. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The sights of these venues heartened us and filled us all with
a renewed pride and enthusiasm, knowing that we are a part of an organisation
that is far bigger than us all individually but connects and binds our
communities and our people in a myriad of tangible and intangible ways. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">An organisation that is owned by no one but belongs to all.
An organisation that reaches from the top of Malin Head to the tip of Mizen
head and everywhere in between.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An organisation whose
membership spans the ages and the sexes, where there is an outlet for the
athlete and the administrator, the electrician and the engineer, the employed
and unemployed, the old and the young.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">It’s for these reasons and many more that there is no
organisation better placed within our island to embrace the challenges to
enhance the Health and Wellbeing of our members and our communities. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">This area covers a broad spectrum and one of those is the
Mental Health and Emotional Wellness of our people. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our members give a
lot to our organisation in terms of effort and energy and I firmly believe we
in the Gaelic Athletic Association have a sacred responsibility to these same
people and the wider community to create the atmosphere and culture where
people can feel the safety in facing up to their inner problems and create the
support structures to help them on their path back to health.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">That we can say to our people that it’s okay to not feel
okay, affirm and encourage the message that it is an act of strength, courage
and most of all, kindness to yourself to address your emotional difficulties
and seek some assistance. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">That our clubhouses, gyms, ball alleys, meeting rooms and
GAA fields can become a sanctuary of support for these people the same way they
did for me during my difficulties.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">Over 800 people on this island of Ireland end their lives by suicide
each year but in reality the figure well over a thousand. The graves of our
dead from these deaths may appear to be silent but they are sending out a powerful
message that is echoing loudly across our land of the internal turmoil many of
our people are enduring.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over 60,000 are
admitted to A&E departments each year with self harming injuries, the
method that is used by many of our women in despair to give outer, physical
expression to their inner pain, shattering the myth that our female population
are more effective at dealing with or discussing their real emotional issues.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The startling reality is that Ireland has the highest rate
of suicide amongst young females in Europe and the second highest amongst young
men.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But these are only
the tip of the iceberg. What of our countless thousands that are living lives
of quiet desperation and silent misery. The World Health Organisation says that
by 2030, Depression will be the number one health problem in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">Let’s not just focus on the statistics and numbers for these
never tell the human story behind them. These people are our brothers and
sisters, our Mothers and Fathers, our sons and daughters, our friends and
neighbours, our hurlers, footballers and camogie players, our coaches and
Chairmen, our Secretaries and ladies committees, our men that line our fields
and man the scoreboards.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">It’s the 18 year old young man I spoke to during the week from
Belfast who loves his Gaelic football but because of his attraction to other young
men, is hurt each time a fellow teammate, supporter or coach, either unwittingly
or purposely uses the word ‘gay’ in a derogatory and belittling manner and forces
him further back in to his shell, denying him the opportunity to feel free to express
and live this part of his life and so no longer gets enjoyment from
participating and competing in our games.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the 67 year old
woman in Laois who writes to me and describes the isolation and loneliness she
feels since the death of her husband who was a lifelong member and officer in
her local GAA club and now feels forgotten about in her local community. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">It’s Galway hurler Niall Donoghue who thrilled thousands in
this venue less than 18 months ago on All Ireland Hurling Final day with his
hurling skills and bravery, yet now lies cold in a grave in Kilbeacanty after
ending his life through suicide last year. I visited his grave on the outskirts
of Kilbeacanty and it brought me back to how close I was to doing a similar
thing myself. As his cousin Niall McDonagh and I knelt and said a quiet prayer,
the heavens opened and hailstones hurtled from the skies and Niall’s final resting
place reminded us both of the absolute finality, utter tragedy and immeasurable
loss that suicide is. We visited his home place, I sat, spoke and ate with his beautiful
but broken hearted father Francis who would gladly trade every medal and
achievement his son ever attained to just have him walk in the door again each
evening.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">My
travels around Ireland over the last few months, giving talks to schools,
sports clubs, Mental Health organisations and meeting with individuals has
exposed me to the carnage that depression, addiction, suicide and unhealthy
levels of stress and anxiety is causing throughout our land to our people, our
families and our communities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;">The cacophony of screaming and distress, mostly
silent or behind the masks we each wear daily, largely goes unheard and unseen.
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;">Each day I receive e-mails, letters or phone calls
from people that are struggling with their Mental Health and many are from
people who are suffering in silence. They endure this daily and nightly misery
on their own, carrying the burden of despair and fear because of the stigma and
taboo that still surrounds this issue in our country.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;">Our health and Wellbeing committees can do much to
break down these taboos and stigmas and help to end this killer silence.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span style="color: black;">A man
was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young
boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending
down, picking something up and throwing it into the water.<br />
Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span style="color: black;">As
the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up
starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was
throwing them back into the water. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span style="color: black;">The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy
replied,"I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or
else they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the man,
"You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and
this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can't
possibly make a difference."<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span style="color: black;">The boy looked down, frowning for a moment; then bent down to
pick up another starfish, smiling as he threw it back into the sea. He replied,
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><span style="color: black;">"I
made a huge difference to that one!" <o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">So it is with us in the GAA. We can and have to make a
difference for the person that is in reach of our hand. We can make a
difference for the boy in Belfast by ensuring our venues and fields are places
where all can feel welcome to play no matter the colour of their skin, the God
they pray to or whom they choose to love. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">We can make a difference for the 67 year old woman in Laois
to ensure that she doesn’t have to feel she is isolated and alone and forgotten
about. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">We can’t make a difference for Niall Donoghue, his life has
ended but we can and we have a responsibility to those many others experiencing
inner turmoil. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The Persian poet Rumi says ‘Yesterday I was clever and I
wanted to change the world, today I am wise and so I am changing myself.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to be wise and innovative and
creative and brave in transforming our culture within our organisation in how
we view and value ourselves and those around us. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">No matter how technologised our society becomes, the
cravings of the human soul and spirit and heart will never change. The inward
yearning of each human being to be valued and appreciated for their own unique
and sacred presence, the desire to love and be loved, the need to belong to
something outside of themselves has and will always be at the core of each
individual we encounter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">By being imaginative and courageous, our Health and Wellness
committees can help to promote that environment where the above needs can be
met so that first and foremost, it’s the presence of each individual in our
association that is valued above all else, that it’s the richness and fullness
of our people’s inner lives that is far more important than the richness of our
Treasurer’s accounts or the fullness of our trophy cabinets.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that atmosphere of
respect, our members can emerge from the protective shells that we all build around
aspects of our true selves and so be able to live far more healthier and fulfilled
lives and where those in distress can feel the necessary safety and support to
be able to break their silence and begin their journey back to wellness. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">I genuinely find the modern GAA player to be a phenomenal
species. Driven, disciplined, committed, loyal, supportive, broad minded. They
go out on a field and for 70 minutes play a warrior’s sport with ferocity,
passion and fire. When the game is over, I don’t believe the current generation
of players are leaving their warrior spirit on the field until the next game. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">They are carrying the mantle of it with them in to their
dressing rooms, training fields, homes, workplaces and communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are evolving into warriors of the soul
and spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">They are determined that the issues that are affecting them
and their teammates are not allowed to be hidden, silenced and not spoken about
like times of old. They are passionate about showing solidarity with their
teammates and are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other,
whether it be with issues like addiction, unhealthy levels of stress and
anxiety, sexuality or Mental Health. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">We in our Health and Wellbeing committees need to tap into
and build on that spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">My journeys and experiences of the last number of months
have exposed me to stories of terrible tragedy, pain and darkness and I have
shed a lot of tears in that time. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">Everywhere I go though, I also see the seeds of hope for our
present and our future. There is a growing momentum amongst our people to see
and embrace change in how we are within ourselves and with each other. There
are more of us realising that the dogmas and ways of old are no longer
acceptable and more again are beginning to find their own voices and throw off
the shackles of repression that have manacled generations of our people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a voracious
hunger amongst our people for knowledge, guidance and support in these areas.
Again, I see a major role for our Health and wellbeing committees in these
areas. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">I also get great hope and inspiration from the initiative shown
by Dessie Farrell, Siobhan Earley and the other staff in the GPA. Their energy
and enthusiasm for progress, their appetite for work, their awareness of the
needs of their members and the support structures that they have built and
continue to build to facilitate the progress and growth of their player’s inner
and outer lives is an example to organisations the world over. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The GAA has enriched my life in a myriad of magical and
wonderful ways. I still get great satisfaction and enjoyment from competing and playing
hurling as I currently near my twentieth year of
adult hurling with my club in Cloyne. There was a time however where it looked like I mightn’t make it
to a fifth year. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">I know from my own experiences that without good Mental
Health and Emotional Wellness, there is no health and no capacity to truly
enjoy the experience and reap the intangible benefits of being a player or a
member of our magnificent association.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The development of
better facilities, the advancements in our coaching standards, the growth and
increased use of sport science have all helped to improve the lives of our
players and administrators but they mean less and little to a member that is
gripped in the tentacles of depression, whose life is filled with unhealthy
levels of stress or anxiety or is afflicted with gambling, success, alcohol,
sport, drug or work addictions. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">It’s why I truly feel that the work that we have been tasked
with in our Health and Wellbeing committees could be the most important work
that any GAA committee has ever been assigned to undertake. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The challenges confronting the members we represent are vast
and complex but our island’s wider society has always looked to the GAA to lead
the way in rising with and embracing the difficulties of our times. In some
areas we have succeeded and in others we have failed.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">More than ever, our people need us to lead the way and be
the beacon of light and bedrock of support to empower them to be able to deal
effectively with the various Health and Wellness issues they are experiencing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism once
said: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">‘This existence of ours is as transient as Autumn clouds<br />
To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a
dance,<br />
A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,<br />
Rushing by like a torrent down a steep mountain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">We have stopped for a moment on our cosmic journey to
encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share, to play hurling, football,
camogie and to manage our games.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">This is a precious moment, but it is temporary, as the lives
of Donal Walsh in Kerry, Cormac McAnallen in Tyrone and many others have shown.
If we can share this moment with caring, lightheartedness, authenticity and
love, we will allow the opportunity for each of us to live with freedom in our
minds and joy in our hearts and create a far better world and sporting
organisation for us all to live, work and play in. And then, and then, this
moment will have been worthwhile. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The National Health and Wellbeing Committee is genuinely
looking forward to working with you all in a joint effort to ensure that this
moment, this time and our era together will be a worthwhile experience for all
of our members and communities in both our inner and outer worlds. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">I wish you</span> all well on our continued journey together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06961764805095906768noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131707708551393545.post-87040419788035543862013-10-28T10:51:00.001-07:002013-10-28T10:51:49.846-07:00Depression is a friend, not my enemy.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I still remember the moment well. It was a wet, cold, grey Friday
morning. I rose out of bed having had no sleep the night before. Panic attacks
are horrific experiences by day, by night they are even worse. As I drove to
work on my trusted Honda 50, a group of my friends passed in their car heading
to college. They all smiled and waved and looked so happy. I smiled and waved
and acted happy. I had loved and excelled in school but it was the same with my
hurling, it was the same with my friends, it was the same with my family, it
was the same with the people of Cloyne, it was the same with life, I had lost
interest in all of them. Losing interest in people was the worst. Where once I
would have felt sadness at seeing my friends heading to where I had always
wanted to go, I now didn’t. Something much larger, deeper, darker had taken
hold of my mind and sadness, despair, hopelessness were not strong enough to
survive alongside what I was feeling.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They say something has <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to crack to allow the light in. At about 11am
that morning, I finally cracked. I couldn’t do it anymore, all my strength at
keeping up my pretence had gone. I curled up in the corner of the building and
began to cry. One of the lads working with me came over and he didn’t know what
to do. I asked him to take me home. The GP called to my house and prescribed
some sleeping pills and arranged for me to be sent to the hospital for some
tests.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I spent a week there and they done every test imaginable.
Physically, I was in perfect health. I was diagnosed with suffering from ‘Depression’
or in laymans terms, that awful phrase ‘of suffering with his nerves’. I had
never heard of the word before.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was sent to see a psychiatrist in my local day care
hospital. I was 19 years of age in a waiting room surrounded by people much
older than I was. Surely I am not the only young person suffering from
depression, I thought to myself. There was a vacant look in all of their eyes,
a hollowness, an emptiness, the feeling of darkness pervaded the room. The
psychiatrist explained that there might be a chemical imbalance in my brain, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>asked me my symptoms and prescribed a mixture
of anti depressants, anxiety and sleeping pills based on what I told him. He
explained that it would take time to get the right cocktail of tablets for my
type of depression. I had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing. Something deep
inside in me told me this wasn’t the way forward and this wasn’t what I needed.
As I walked out a group of people in another room with intellectual
disabilities were doing various things. One man had a teaching device in front
of him and he was trying to put a square piece into a round hole. It summed up perfectly
what I felt had just happened to me.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I now stayed in my room all day, only leaving it to go to
the bathroom. I locked the door and it was only opened to allow my mother bring
me some food. I didn’t want to speak to anybody. The only time I left the house
was on a Thursday morning to visit the psychiatrist. When everbody had left <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to go to work and school, my Mother would
bring me my breakfast. I cried nearly all the time. Sometimes she would sit
there and cry with me, other times talk with me and hold my hand, tell me that
she would do anything to help me get better, other times just sit there quietly
whilst I ate the food. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Depression is difficult to explain to people. If you have
experienced it there is no need, if you haven’t, I don’t think there are words
adequate to describe its horror. I have had a lot of injuries playing hurling,
snapped cruciates, broken bones in my hands 11 times, had my lips sliced in
half and all my upper teeth blown out with a dirty pull but none of them come
anywhere near the physical pain and mental torture of depression. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It permeates every part of your being, from
your head to your toes. It is never ending, waves and waves of utter despair
and hopelessness and fear and darkness flood throughout your whole body. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You crave for peace but even sleep doesn’t afford
that. It wrecks your dreams and turns your days into a living nightmare. It destroys
your personality, your relationship with your family and friends, your work,
your sporting life, it affects them all. Your ability to give and receive
affection is gone. You tear at your skin and your hair with frustration. You
cut yourself to give some form of physical expression to the incredible pain
you feel. You want to grab it and smash it, but you can’t get a hold of it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You go to sleep hoping, praying not to wake
up. You rack your brain seeing is there something you done in your life that justifies
this suffering. You wonder why God is not answering your pleas for relief and
you wonder is he there at all or has he forgotten about you. And through it all
remains the darkness. It’s as if someone placed a veil over your soul and never
returned to remove it. This endless, black, never ending tunnel of darkness. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had been five months in my room now. I had watched the
summer turn into the autumn and then to Winter through my bedroom window. One
of the most difficult things was watching my teammates parade through the town
after winning the U21 championship through it. That was the real world out
there. In here in my room was a living hell. I was now on about 18 tablets a
day and not getting better but worse. I was eating very little but the
medication was ballooning my weight to nearly twenty stone. I was sent to see
another psychiatrist and another doctor who suggested electric shock therapy
which I flatly refused. It was obvious to me I was never going to get better. My
desire for death was now much stronger than my desire for living so I made a
decision.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had been contemplating suicide for a while now and when I
finally decided and planned it out, a strange thing happened. A peace that I hadn’t
experienced for a long time entered my mind and body. For the first time in
years, I could get a good night’s sleep. It was as if my body realized that
this pain it was going through was about to end and it went into relax mode. I
had the rope hidden in my room. I knew there was a game on a Saturday evening
and that my father and the lads would be gone to that. After my Mother and
sister would be gone to Mass, I would drive to the location and hang myself. I didn’t
feel any anxiety about it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would
solve everything, I thought. No more pain, both for me and my family. They were
suffering as well as I was and I felt with me gone, it would make life easier
for them. How wrong I would have been. I have seen the effects and damage
suicide has on families. It is far,far greater than anything endured while
living and helping a person with depression.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For some reason <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my
Mother never went to Mass. I don’t know why but she didn’t go. It was a
decision on her part that saved my life.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The following week, a family that I had worked for when I was younger heard
about me being unwell. They rang my Mother and told them that they knew a
clinical psychologist working in a private practice that they felt could help
me. I had built up my hopes too many times over the last number of months that
a new doctor, a new tablet, a new treatment was going to help and had
them dashed when he or it failed to help me. I wasn’t going through it again.
My mother pleaded to give him a try and eventually I agreed. It was a decision on
my part that would save my life.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After meeting Tony, I instantly knew this was what I had
been searching for. It was the complete opposite of what I felt when I was
being prescribed tablets and electric shock therapy. We sat opposite each other
in a converted cottage at the side of his house with a fire lighting in the
corner. He looked at me with his warm eyes and said ‘I hear you haven’t been too
well. How are you feeling’. It wasn’t even the question, it was the way he
asked it. I looked at him for about a minute or so and I began to cry. When the
tears stopped, I talked and he listened intently. Driving home with my mother
that night, I cried again but it wasn’t tears of sadness, it was tears of joy.
I knew that evening I was going to better. There was finally a chink of light
in the darkness.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therapy is a
challenging experience. It’s not easy baring your soul. When you sit in front
of another human being and discuss things you have never discussed with anyone,
it can be quite scary. Paulo Coelho says in one of his books that ‘A man is at
his strongest when he is willing to be vulnerable’. Sadly, society conditions
men to be the opposite and views vulnerability as a weakness. For therapy to
work, a person has to be willing to be vulnerable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a week, I was off all medication. For
me, medication was never the answer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
path back to health was one of making progress, then slipping and making
progress again. It was far from straightforward. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to face up to memories
I had buried from being bullied quite a lot when I was a young kid. Some of it
occurred in primary school, others in secondary. It was raw and emotional
re-visiting those times but it had to be done.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of my identity was
tied up with hurling and it was an un-healthy relationship. The ironic thing is
that as I began to live my life more from the inside out and appreciate and
value myself for being me and not needing hurling for my self esteem, I loved
the game more than ever. I got myself super fit and my weight down to 13 and a
half stone. I made the Cloyne Senior team and went on to play with the Cork
Senior hurling team, making a cameo appearance in the final of 2006. It is
still one of the biggest joys of my life playing hurling with Cloyne, despite
losing three County finals and an All-Ireland with Cork. Being involved with
the Cloyne team was a huge aid in my recovery and my teammates gave me great
support during that time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back to serve
my time as an electrician. I went to college by night and re-discovered my joy
of learning. I work for a great company and have a good life now. I finished
therapy in 2004. I have not had a panic attack in that time and have not missed
a day’s work because of depression since then. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I came to realise that depression was not my enemy but my
friend. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t say this lightly. I know
the damage it does to people and the lives it has wrecked and is wrecking so I
am only talking for myself. How can you say something that nearly killed you
was your friend? The best coaches I have ever dealt with are those that tell
you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. You mightn’t like it at
the time but after or maybe years later, you know they were right. I believe
depression is a message from a part of your being to tell you something in your
life isn’t right and you need to look at it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It forced me to stop and seek within for
answers and that is where they are. It encouraged me to look at my inner life
and free myself from the things that were preventing me from expressing my full
being. The poet David Whyte says ‘the soul would much rather fail at its own
life than succeed at someone else’s’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an ongoing
process. I am still far from living a fully, authentic life but I am very
comfortable now in my own skin. Once or twice a year, especially when I fall
into old habits, my ‘friend’ pays me a visit. I don’t push him away or ignore
him. I sit with him in a chair in a quiet room and allow him to come. I sit
with the feeling. Sometimes I cry, other times I smile at how accurate his
message is. He might stay for an hour, he might stay for a day. He gives his
message and moves on. He reminds me to stay true to myself and keep in touch
with my real self. A popular quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is ‘a
journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step’. A correct translation of the
original Chinese though is ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one’s
feet’. Lao Tzu believed that action was something that arose naturally from
stillness. When you can sit and be with yourself, it is a wonderful gift and real
and authentic action flows from it. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many, many people are
living lives of quiet misery. I get calls from people on the phone and to my
house because people in my area will know my story. Sometimes it is for themselves,
other times it is asking if I would talk to another person. I’m not a doctor or
a therapist and anyone I talk to in distress, I always encourage them to go to
both but people find it easier at first to talk to someone who has been in
their shoes. It is incredible the amount of people it affects. Depression
affects all types of people, young and old, working and not working, wealthy
and poor. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For those people who are currently gripped by depression,
either experiencing it or are supporting or living with someone with it, I hope
my story helps. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no situation
that is without hope, there is no person that can’t overcome their present
difficulties. For those that are suffering silently, there is help out there
and you are definitely not alone. Everything you need to succeed is already
within you and you have all the answers to your own issues. A good therapist
will facilitate that process. My mother always says ‘a man’s courage is his
greatest asset’. It is an act of courage and strength, not weakness, to admit
you are struggling. It is an act of courage to seek help. It is an act of
courage to face up to your problems.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An old saying goes ‘there
is a safety in being hidden, but a tragedy never to be found’. You are too
precious and important to your family, your friends, your community, to yourself,
to stay hidden. In the history of the world and for the rest of time, there
will never again be another you. You are a once off, completely unique. The
real you awaits within to be found but to get there requires a journey inwards .
A boat is at its safest when it is in the harbour but that’s not what it was built
to do. We are the same. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your journey in will
unearth buried truths and unspoken fears. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new strength will emerge to help you to head
into the choppy waters of your painful past. Eventually you will discover a
place of peace within yourself, a place that encourages you to head out into
the world and live your life fully. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
world will no longer be a frightening place to live in for you. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most important thing is to take the first step. Please
take it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06961764805095906768noreply@blogger.com479