Give Me Sunshine .......

According to webmd.com (and they are always right you know, except when they always tell you that you are going to die from a head cold) people in Utah in the US suffer every winter from a bad case of the SADs. Seasonal Affective Disorder comes about when the population lives under grey clouds for the winter months and are in want of a bit of sunshine. Natural sunlight is proven to combat stress, depression, and general 'get out of my f*****g face' disorder. Unlike Utah, Ireland gets about 360 days of cloud and rain a year. So, when the blissful sunshine pours from the sky for the 5 days a year (usually leaving cert week or thereabouts), the whole country and it's residents are temporarily transformed.

Driving to work today at 9AM, it was a gorgeous 16 degrees out with the promise of 25 by lunchtime. The dogs were happier when I was leaving them, the cuckoo was having a good cuckoo in the garden, and the radio DJ was singing his way out of and into each song. Throughout the whole day standing in the shop I witnessed one happy person after another come and go. Whether they were on their way down south to visit relatives, or taking their first day out with a new baby and the mother-in-law, everyone had a smile and said the same thing; 'beautiful day isn't it?'.

Even in the world outside of my little bag shop, things seemed cheerier. I watched pictures put up online of friend's sharing ice creams on the beach and little kids playing in paddling pools in the garden. Kids outside the shop were taking off their velcro shoes with their little pudgy fingers and paddling in the shopping centre's beloved fountain while the security guard turned a blind eye. People were sending in stories to radio stations of how they were pulling sickies with their children and spouses to spend the day in the sun with them. It all just sounded so perfect and ideal, because even if it's only briefly, the whole country's priorities seemed to be aligned.

I didn't understand until this evening that it's not the vitamins in sunshine that makes people happy. It's the idea that comes with the sunshine that we don't have to be dark like the sky. You don't have to run with your head down in the rain, ignoring everyone around you. You can look up and take your time and see the world. people like to think that for those 5 days of sunshine we have a little bit of freedom. It's kinda like a snow day in Orlando. It's full of unexpected things; adventure, joy, laughing out loud, new memories, sunsets, tastes that remind you of a time when you didn't have to pay an ESB bill. We all want those things, and sunshine somehow makes them seem a little more possible.

Enjoy.

Amy.

ps. here is some Passenger. He just sort of fits the mood.

Scare Away The Dark

Mediocre

I miss writing.

Its basically the only reason I am sitting here typing away.

I watched a movie tonight. I am a sucker for them. But this one was one of those that will stick with me I think. It was called 'Julie and Julia' and was about a young(ish) Amy Adams who found herself stuck in a life she considered boring and unfulfilled. She decided to shake things up a bit. Most people get a new job, or improve their sex life (usually involving an ambitious read of 50 shades and the purchase of some scary looking leather), but Amy decided that was all too overdone. No. She was going to cook 500 and something recipes in 365 days. Sounds boring right? But it took off. Suddenly her life wasn't as boring as she thought it was, and she realised other people found her interesting, and cooking saved her.

I feel writing sort of saves me. It clears the head, you know?

Walking through Dublin city the other day, I sat myself down in one of my favourite spots; St Stephen's Green. Ultimate people watching location. It struck me, as it often does when I make a visit to the big smoke, how interesting people are. They are from little towns or big cities, they have lots of sisters and brothers, or grew up in foster homes. Their favourite food is sushi, or pizza, or marshmallows simply because they remind them of a camp-fire kiss after a few too many home brewed beers. They married someone they love, or someone they hate, or someone they really don't know. They have decades of stories and memories and thoughts. They go about living what they usually consider to be mediocre lives, but to the person next to them who considers their own life to be mediocre, they are anything but mediocre. There is really nothing mediocre about the lives and thoughts of anyone.

I personally have been working away in retail when I am not travelling too and from England to visit the other half, and have recently been accepted to Trinity College Dublin to begin a Masters of Education (English and History) in September. I shouldn't feel like that is mediocre and boring. That isn't mediocre. That's pretty interesting. So why am I not writing? The answer is, there is no reason why I shouldn't be. I have simply forgotten to push out the word 'mediocre'. I do and see and think interesting stuff every week, and judging from the work load of a student teacher, I am going to have a pretty interesting, albeit stressful, life come September.

So, I am writing again. About what? I don't know. Maybe the bird man in the park. Or the book on the bedstand that has been calling me for the past 4 months. Or maybe I will cook ..... Ok let's not get too carried away.

Amy.