No matter where you are in the world, remember as you walk forward into 2020 you have your friend at your side and I’m here for you waiting in the shadow…
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
It’s not unusual to hear people say “It’s just another day” or “same old same old.” Or you might hear people wishing their life away saying ” I wish it was Friday” or “Will the weekend ever come”. People often hate normality! Normality is dull and boring, same picture, same story…just another day!
But when your dull, ordinary, normal day is taken from you, that’s the day you’ll realise there was nothing dull, ordinary or normal about normality!
Don’t underestimate normality, it’s only when it’s gone that you’ll realise how valuable normality was!
Le grà,
Marie xx
This is Doris!
and she’s in the kitchen
Together with Emma
They are cooking up a symphony
That will paint Ireland pinky red
Or better still Magenta
As they succeed in bringing
Psychiatric Assistance Dogs to Ireland!
Together they have lobbied politicians and the
Minister for Disability Issues
Finian McGrath
To compile a proposal to Government
Granting public access rights
To Psychiatric Assistance Dogs
So that people, like Emma, who live
With mental health conditions
Can bring a trained Psychiatric Assistant Dog
With them to public places
Just as users of Guide Dogs for the blind
Or Autism Support Dogs have benefitted
From their canine companions
And Doris will be an “extraspectacular” Psychiatric Assistance Dog
Being the first of her kind in Ireland!
https://lightmotifs.wordpress.com/2019/08/12/three-things-challenge-pl149/
And…
Did you know that…
Magenta Ain’t A Colour
By Liz Elliott
Magenta is an “extraspectral” color.
Sir Isaac Newton noticed that magenta did not exist in the spectrum of colors from white light when he played with prisms.
But when he superimposed the red end of the spectrum on to the blue end, he saw the color magenta (this can be done with two prisms to make two spectral spreads, “rainbows”):
Magenta is the only color that does not exist as a single wavelength of light
For more interesting facts and optical illusions check out…
http://www.biotele.com/magenta.html
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
It is now five months since I shared my Bullying & Beyond post, Painting the Pain, part one. It is not an easy read and comes with a trigger warning. You can access it here… Bullying & Beyond… 10.Painting the Pain, part one.
Those past five months have been very challenging for our daughter and for us as parents, as she tries bravely to cope with her anxiety. She refuses to give in and her resilience is remarkable. As well as accessing professional health support, she has also started a campaign, to try and set up a Psychiatric Assistance Dog charity in Ireland. Sadly in Ireland while there are guide dogs for the blind and Assistance dogs for autism, Psychiatric Assistance Dogs do not exist.
To understand the whole area of Psychiatric Assistance Dogs, Emma has been busy educating herself via books, blogs, Social Media and YouTube. A year ago, she began her campaign, contacting political representatives and support organisations.
Emma’s campaign is driven by her goal to have legislation enabled in Ireland to give Psychiatric Assistance Dogs equal status to that available to users of guide dogs for the blind and Assistance dogs for autism. Having the company of a Psychiatric Assistance Dog to pre-empt the onset of panic attacks will enhance Emma’s life, allowing her to leave home for the first time in months feeling comfortable and safe as she goes about her daily life.
Emma has purchased a Golden Retriever puppy, which she has named Doris.
It is hoped that in time and with the correct training Doris will be the first recognised Psychiatric Assistance Dog in Ireland. Emma dreams of offering this service of trained Psychiatric Assistance Dogs to others.
To see this goal realised, Emma has also worked unceasingly to set up her website www.candocanineire.com and you can read more of her mission and goals here.
Emma has been in regular contact with the office of the Minister of State for Disability Issues, Mr. Finian McGrath and she has created a petition, which she hopes will receive lots of support and help her have Ireland enact and recognise equal status for Psychiatric Assistance Dogs. I would be forever grateful if you would make Emma and Doris’ day by signing their petition and finding one other person to do likewise.
I hope I’ve attached the petition link correctly, for convenience, just as you’ll find it on Emma and Doris’ Instagram account…
https://linktr.ee/dorismakesmy.day
Emma and Doris have also started an Instagram account @dorismakesmyday where they would love you to keep them company as they both document and share their journey towards an Ireland that recognises Psychiatric Assistance Dogs and offers people like Emma who live with a mental health condition access to the love and support of a Psychiatric Assistance Dog.
And we can’t finish without recalling this trailblazer… Andy, Emma’s first dog. Although it broke Emma’s heart (and ours) to let him go to a playfilled future, it had to be done.
Do you struggle with mental health issues? Do you have panic attacks? What do you know about Psychiatric Service Dogs? Do you know anybody who would benefit from reading this post, if so, please feel free to share.
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Paula’s Light prompts of Brazil, Nut & petunia for some weird reason made me think of a bit of random fun and joy. Where that idea came from I don’t know but I’m learning to trust and follow my gut feeling… so read on if you’re in the market today for some joyful poppycock and in case you’ve never come across some poppycock before and need a little confirmation of what it is, here’s a few synonyms… to leave you in little doubt!
Synonyms: applesauce [slang], balderdash, baloney (also boloney), beans, bilge, blah (also blah-blah), blarney, blather, blatherskite, blither, bosh, bull [slang], bunk, bunkum (orbuncombe), claptrap, codswallop [British], crapola [slang], crock, drivel, drool, fiddle, fiddle-faddle, fiddlesticks, flannel [British], flapdoodle, folderol (also falderal), folly, foolishness, fudge, garbage, guff, hogwash, hokeypokey, hokum, hoodoo, hooey, horsefeathers [slang], humbug, humbuggery, jazz, malarkey (also malarky), moonshine, muck, nerts [slang], nuts, piffle, nonsense, punk, rot, rubbish, senselessness, silliness, slush, stupidity, taradiddle (or tarradiddle), tommyrot, tosh, trash, trumpery, twaddle
Sometimes you can’t
find the joy,
in Ireland or in Brazil
nuts, but it makes you think,
Where’s the Joy gone?
And how can you reclaim it?
Sleep on it,
The wise man said
And ask The Universe,
that’s the boy
to ask for joy
And let it manifest.
So nap I did, and what a trip
with little provocation,
and no apparent
rhyme or reason…
A Purple Pimpernel appeared
In a dream
from Instagram’s
artyplantsman https://www.instagram.com/p/BzLw-S-AJQe/?igshid=jjqt76jgsz3k
(You won’t be dissapointed if you take a look)
the petunia knew
the purple hue
was the cue to it’s joy-cation!
What a random load of poppycock!
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/74951/posts/2327863044
With fun & joy,
Mindfully Marie xx
I love this old photo. It has just reminded me that although we look whole, if you take the time to look closer or get to know someone better, there are always aspects that we haven’t seen! We may or may not feel complete. Nobody can complete us, we have to want to complete ourselves!
What do you do to complete yourself? Are you following your dreams?
Here are my previous thought on Retail Reflection
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Cee’s Three items or the number three challenge. https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/14846827/posts/2323536516
Welcome to Monday’s memory Lane where I share a post from before we came to know each other.
What does feeling confident mean to you?… Feeling Confident is…
I wish you a day filled with love, particularly self love, the kind that gives you the courage to be comfortable in your own skin!
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
May 12th was Fibromyalgia awareness day…
Welcome to my Fibromyalgia awareness day post… yes, a few days late! Why?
Simply because…
Fibromyalgia doesn’t play by the rules! It doesn’t respect you just because you plan to write a post for Fibromyalgia day…
Fibromyalgia is unpredictable and messes with your plans!
But, life still carried on and the world didn’t fall apart. So this is for all who live with Fibromyalgia as a companion …
Fibromyalgia is…
F athomless, it’s an
I illusive illness, that’s painful & perplex,
B oth ruthless and instructive,
R uins you
O r
M atures
Y ou,
A s it
L languishes or livens your soul;
G rab it to you, seek out its gifts
I nscribe your name on it, as you
A chieve your dreams & nothing less!
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Create Space 
Highest achievers?
The results of Ireland’s Leaving Certificate State Exam were released on the 13th of August.
This exam is the culmination of five years of study and it holds the key to the future of many students.
For months before the exams, which are held each year in June, two things happen.
1. Some students don’t cast the upcoming exams a thought.
2. Some students stress themselves to the point of mental and physical distress over sitting these exams.
For weeks before the results are released in August, two things happen.
1. Some students don’t cast the upcoming results a thought.
2. Some students stress themselves out worrying about the outcome or points they will achieve.
And that is the story of life.
The students at 1. above, takes things in their stride, they do not struggle with their emotions or become anxious.
The students at 2. above, are predisposed to an anxious nature. They struggle to handle their emotions and cope with stress.
And that is the human story or condition. We are all different, in how we see the world and how we cope in the world.
The Leaving Certificate acknowledges the high achievers and rightly so! It tabulates the results and rewards students accordingly. It is a grading system. It however, fails to grade students on how they function and cope emotionally or psychologically.
So please consider a few important things.
1. Look past the A4 sheet of Academic Outcomes and see that each student, teenager, boy, girl, non-gender, behind the A4 grading system is individual, unique, different and consider how they truly feel. They may not be the highest achiever in maths or biology but they might be the highest achiever in resilience or mental health management.
2. Don’t compare them to others. It doesn’t matter what their friends or peers got. Don’t expect them to get the same results. Do expect them to react or cope in very different ways and be there for them, if their world falls apart. Be calm, be capable and let them see that by supporting each other this will all work out!
3. If you are a teacher or parent and your student, son or daughter haven’t reached the exam stage yet, then make the most of it! Tell them, right the way through school, how unique and different they are. Watch out for and acknowledge their high achievements, whether it is academic or simply turning in for school. Remind them that they have numerous talents, some of which will be uncovered academically and many, many more which will only surface when they study at the college of life!
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx