Diary of a busyish woman

I'm currently a church warden in St. Fachtna's Cathedral , Rosscarbery . It's a small role I've taken on this year for the third in a row. While I may be of some use ensuring everything is ready for Sunday morning at 11:30, let me assure you that I do it for very selfish reasons. Let me explain:- There are so many of these 'mindfulness' courses that people flock to attend, I'm in awe. In awe, because every Sunday, I'm in the Cathedral for perhaps 45 minutes before the service. The preparation doesn't take that long, so why am I there? This is my selfish time. I stop. I sit for anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes.  I sit at the back of the church and I don't have a book or a screen in front of me. I just sit and look:-  St. Fachtna's Cathedral, Rosscarbery at the walls - built to last with a little care from ensuing generations;  the stained glass window on my right (there is another in the transept);  the stained glass windows th...

Over the past few years, this word, mindfulness, has crept into the everyday vocabulary and there are experts aplenty to expound on the benefits and the barriers to achieving true mindfulness. How to practice mindfulness through various means including meditation, yoga etc is one of the basics. Of course, where there are experts, there are qualifications at all levels including online and college based. I'm fascinated because if you look at religion, mindfulness is very much part of its practice. I have no doubt that many of the expertise in mindfulness has been 'borrowed' from various religious practices around the world.  I'm a Church Warden in St. Fachtna's Cathedral , Rosscarbery . Essentially that's a fancy title for a person who ensures that everything is ready before people arrive for a service and tidies up afterwards. There's no special qualification or qualities apart from a willingness to be of service in one's church. However that's not...

Summer is coming and in West Cork , we welcome people from all over the world. Some will pass us by on the roads and increasingly, in my view, we spend less and less time going out or indeed going out of our way to meet and speak with people. Perhaps I'm being simplistic by suggesting that from the moment we were able to listen to a radio followed in short order by the television and now computers and telephones, our need to interact with anyone including our nearest neighbours has diminished. Humans are social creatures and one of the reasons that there haven't been more hermits is because we're also curious about what's happening in the world around us. Now the fantasy is touted that you don't have to step outside your front door (or even your bedroom door) for the world to come to you - everything from the clothes on your back to the food you eat to the people you 'virtually' call your friends. I believe this is unhealthy and it horrifies me to watch pe...

If you're wondering what on earth has happened to me, when so many in West Cork are anything but rich, allow me to explain. We have some of the most talented people on earth living in West Cork, some come for a holiday or to rejuvenate their muse, but so many live here and find inspiration in the place and people. West Cork people, and I include me in this, often don't take the time to sit and just count our blessings and we truly have many - good food and isn't it wonderful to see Frank Krawczyk, acclaimed food producer, spearheading the West Cork Slow Food revival; then it's on to all the festivals that happen in West Cork from food to walking to music to sport and art in all their forms. I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to attend the Clonakilty Games Festival last weekend but was away in Dublin doing tastings in Avoca Rathcoole , The Country Market, Howth & Thyme Out, Dalkey . I had a wonderful time and thanks to everyone including my aun...

Went to bed last night dreading the thought of waking up this morning. I got a Code Orange warning from Met Éireann for fog. I'll endure rain or snow, but don't ask me to enjoy fog. It's invariably penetratingly damp and depressing. This morning, I'm pleasantly surprised because the sun is actually shining through some light cloud. It's a good morning. You know at this stage how my mind wanders and it took me along the road of mental health. I don't know if all the triggers for mental ill-health have been identified, but I can tell you this that if I was feeling down, it would have been extremely hard to drag myself out of bed this morning after last night's weather warning. Storms on the other hand I find exhilarating. Off to St. Fachtna's Cathedral for 11.30am service and then I think I'll go to see a hockey match in Clonakilty at 1pm. Why am I going? Well you may ask, but I was told last night one of my sisters is an umpire for it. It'll be...