walking thoughts

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autumn, dreaming, Friedrich Nietzsche, photography, photos, planning, quotes, walking, wondering

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking

Friedrich Nietzsche

Dublin is a great place to walk around. The inner city is small enough to allow you to wander from a to b quite easily and it is really quite flat. So when I left my afternoon appointment yesterday I decided to let my feet do the walking and my mind wander.

My brogue clad feet tapped on the path as I walked, a steady tattoo of sound my  companion as I walked down the leafy streets of a south side Georgian terrace. For the first time in months I had to shrug a jacket on to stop the wind from chilling my bones and  maybe it was my imagination playing tricks on me but I thought that the air smelt colder, announcing that Autumn had truly arrived.

Unlike so many others I quite enjoy this time of year: the riot of colours in the parks and lining the streets; the comfy cardigans; hot plates of soup and the first lit fires of the season I sit next too while I knit.

As I walked my thoughts changed, plans made way to dreams and I allowed myself to be excited by possibilities, no matter how unsure or far away they seemed. So, while I know the rain and winds that this time of year brings may dampen my mood at times, I am quite looking forward to the next few months, and I hope that for me autumn won’t just be the end of something but also the beginning. And if not – well at least it also means Christmas isn’t too far anymore.

leaves changing colours

back to blogging

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blogging, forming habits, habit loop, habits, pic, quotes, Reward, routine, three Rs, writing

After a month of internet exile and one filled with finishing up my masters it is now time to get back to blogging. The only problem is: where to start?

After all after months of absence and my days filled with mundane tasks and the usual daily grind it seems I have fallen out of the habit of coming up with ideas. But then new habits are hard to form and take about 21 days to actually stick (they also take three weeks to dissolve).

For the next month my goal is to create a new ‘habit loop’ by reminding myself of what I want to do and following the three Rs, allow the routine to take and then reward myself for following through – a cup of tea or a 15minute break or maybe even just a pat on my shoulder.

Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken

Warren Buffett

 

Max Richter at the National Concert Hall

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classical music, Dublin, film music, Kafka, Max Richter, music, National Concert hall, quotes, sleep

Yesterday a good friend whisked me off to the National Concert Hall to experience the music of Max Richter. This German-born composer grew up in England and is possibly best known for the stunning score he composed for Shutter Island (On the Nature of Daylight) and his scores for the TV series The Leftovers.

We had front row seats and the ebb and flow of a mix of classical and contemporary music washed over us without any barriers. The violins lamented and soared, the cellos moaned and exalted, the piano sang, hummed and often led the way.

The concert started with The Blue Notebooks, inspired by Kafka, and the  words of Kafka led into imagined worlds of sound. After a short break we were treated to 90 minutes of Sleep. Max Richter calls it an eight hour long lullaby or cradle song and while listening it is easy to see why. Sleep is an exploration of the unconscious, which both music and sleep are doors into. The melting of strings and wordless vocals in a high, clear soprano, with the piano echoing, conjured up dreams and gave flight to the imagination.

It was a wonderful night out and the experience will linger with me for a while, just like the notes played lingered in the air.

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.

Plato

hiccuping my way through the day

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health, hiccups, mammals, quotes, remedies, thoughts, trapped air

Yesterday, I had a hiccup attack. I don’t get them very often but they can be somewhat persistent. The involuntary contractions of my diaphragm muscle seemed to be settling in for a while so I tried all the usual tricks:I held my breath, drank some water really quickly and from the wrong side of the glass, a spoon full of sugar (yuck) and one of peanut butter (yum) and I even tried pulling my tongue (not as easy as it sounds). I couldn’t quite surprise or scare myself but I did make an attempt.

But my myoclonic jerk just wouldn’t stop. Now I know that it isn’t really clear why we hiccup but what I didn’t know is that only milk-drinking mammals hiccup. And the latest theory (Howes 2012) is that hiccups have evolved to allow mammals to coordinate suckling milk while breathing. Somehow hiccups are there to allow for trapped air burbles to escape from the stomach while babies drink, making it possible for more milk to be ingested.What confuses me is, that I wasn’t drinking milk – or anything for that matter – and I’m definitely not a baby. But since hiccups do seem to be also linked to stress, excessive laughter, too much food and drink, eating and drinking too quickly, swallowing air, taking opiates and chewing gum, I am sure one of those reasons was possibly to blame.

Since we call our small daily mishaps hiccups I began to wonder if maybe those involuntary jerks of life may have reasons as simple and surprising as their namesake. But maybe it is all just trapped air.

The universe hiccups and we poor fools try to figure out why.

Writer Mathew Quick

in-between days

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Bob Dylan, Dublin, Fridays, in-between, in-between days, Ireland, quotes, thoughts, weekend

Today is one of those days that aren’t really anything – they are in-between days.

Yesterday was a Bank Holiday and all of Ireland (and half the world it seems) celebrated. Faces were painted, hats were worn, floats floated down streets and crowds gathered to fill the cites and towns – and in the evening, all around the world, buildings and statues joined in on the fun and lit up in a glorious green display.

But today – a Friday – everything should be back to normal, but  it isn’t really, everything is sort of in-between. Cycling in to work the streets were emptier (and dirtier) than usual and the office is half deserted. I suppose with the weekend only a few hours away many have decided to take the day off and keep the celebration going.

But for me – and all of those who got up early and headed into work- I can’t help feeling a little bit, well, in-between. No longer on free-time mode I have to knuckle down and get my work done, before I can have my weekend and get to do what I want (and need) to do! That means I must be somewhere in-between success if Bob Dylan is to believed – well half way there is always better than not there at all!

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do

 

thoughts on Tuesday

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Albert Camus, autumn, new beginnings, quotes, rain, summer, summer sun, thoughts, warm summer days

One more week and it will be September and the summer  truly over, autumn at our doors- 21 days if the calendar is to believed. I have no idea where the time went and with with only a few sunny days between May and now I seem to be still waiting on the summer sun.

But since no one can stop time I suppose I will just have to cut my loses and get on with it. After all autumn can be so beautiful – the leaves turning gold, the winds playing with the leaves and the last of the warm summer days  saying their goodbyes.

And, like spring, autumn brings new beginnings: the semester restarts, my Masters begins, my birthday is approaching and another year is on the horizon. So maybe instead of mourning the lack of a summer I should be looking forward to all that is new to come.

However as the rain beats down on my windows it is hard not to long for a bit of warmth. But since weather is as unchangeable as time I think I will just decide to stay in and enjoy the pattering of the drops at it creates a soundtrack for my Tuesday thoughts.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus

quippy quotes

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ambition, dreams, Elizabeth Jane Howard, quote, quotes, sunday, thoughts

I’ve got lots of ambitions, but I only ever think of them when I’m lying around in my undies having a snooze

English Novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard (Mr Wrong)

As I was recently flicking through a magazine I stumbled upon this quote and had to laugh out loud. Not only is it clever, witty and more than a little sarcastic, it also fits me like a pair of well worn shoes.

Dreams I have plenty, and even the desire to make them real is there, but that drive that turns ambition from an emotion into an action is sorely lacking in my DNA. It is something I greatly admire in people and strive to obtain myself.

Not wanting to give up on the hope that one day I too shall be ambitious, I tore the page from the magazine and it now hangs by my desk.  But I have to admit that while it still makes me smile, it hasn’t changed me yet ( case in point : I am sitting in my pjs on a Sunday afternoon as I type this – giggling to myself).

lost summer

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Dublin, flowers, Hans Christian Andersen, Ireland, photography, quotes, rain and sunshine, summer, summer sun, sun, sunflowers, sunshine

At this point the summer should be in full swing but somehow it never really arrived. After a very wet and miserable weekend and a mixed bag of rain and sunshine today I think it could be time to come to terms with the fact that we may not a get a summer this year at all.

And while I know that this is always a possibility in Ireland right now I do grave a week of just heat and sunshine. Maybe it has to do with the need for more vitamin D or maybe it is just my simple desire to wear short sleeves and sandals. But either way I think the desire for some summer sun is very understandable at the end of June.

However no matter how hard I hope for or how much I long for this years summer to finally make an appearance there is nothing I can do to convince Saint Peter to comply. But not one to give up easily I have decided to buy my own little bit of sunshine in the shape of sunflowers. Now their happy yellow heads greet me every morning, indoor sunshine at it’s most beautiful.

Just living is not enough … one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Hans Christian Andersen

Weekly Photo Challenge- Symbol

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John Donne, letters, photo challenge, photography, photos, quotes, Symbol, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge- Symbol, writing

Symbols are things that stand for something else, sometimes in very obvious ways, sometimes a little more hidden and sometimes only a select few know what it means. And sometimes one symbol can mean very different things for several people.

But no matter where you look we are surrounded by symbols everyday – some of us even wear them as jewellery or have them embedded in our skin in ink.

As a writer, for me, the most important symbols are letters. Each one holds the key to different meanings and when arranged and rearranged they spell out emotions, ideas, instructions, information and stories.

More than kisses, letters mingle souls.

English Poet John Donne (1572-1631)

exciting but expensive news

Tags

Benjamin Franklin, education, learning, news, quotes, writing

Back in April, on a whim, I applied to do a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) in creative writing and I recently I received the good news that I have been accepted. And this exciting news even got better – I was offered a working-scholarship which will reduce the cost a little bit.

Delighted about this news now all I have to do is figure out a way to pay for the privilege of a year filled with writing, reviewing and excellent mentoring. And while I do understand that education costs, I just wish it wasn’t quite so much.

So, this week I will be looking for grants I can apply for, look at any loan possibilities and hope that somehow I can scrape the money together. It would be such an incredible adventure and my writing would surly improve – a once in a lifetime opportunity.

And while I am researching financials I can’t help but dream of some long lost relative with a big purse, or a crock of gold hidden in my tiny yard, or maybe some unreversible  banking error in my favour. Or – who knows- maybe my book will be picked up and my funds will improve.

What ever happens I am excited about this expensive news and just hope I can make it reality. So if any one out there has any helpful ideas please do let me know!

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest

Benjamin Franklin