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...