I am compelled by the heaviness in my heart today to write this post. Another day with lives lost to senseless terrorism disguised in a commitment to a blind faith or dedication to a cause promising adulation by virginal maidens on the sacrifice made. I am making the assumption that this vile act of hate will be claimed by ISIS or another linked group and If I am wrong then I will stand corrected. However, we, as a global community are becoming accustomed to the fact that these devastating atrocities trace back to these extremists and their unconscionable desire to kill and maim in the name of their cause. And please remember, their cause is not Islam – their cause is not about any true belief for the betterment of any group. Their cause is power, violence, greed and chaos. Their power is pain.
I’ve sat here all day with this running through the back of my mind and I’ve thought about what I can do to combat this… What can I do from my desk here in Dublin? or my home in Meath? or my blog online? And the only answer I consistently come up with is… You catch more flies with Honey than Vinegar! If you 
feed Darkness with Darkness… it only grows… however if you introduce light, however small, that darkness gives – even by a trace. The only way to oppose such blatant hatred is to display blatant unity and love. Now, don’t switch off on me and think ‘Jaysus!! She’s gone all airy fairy – I’m off!!’. I always think about things in terms of balance… Negativity is hugely prevalent on a global scale through fear and sadness and anger right now and for some time with the element of terrorism that has been growing. These are emotions we must all feel and deal with – we can’t avoid that. We cannot allow them to turn into retaliation and hate however, because then we feed the beast. One way to counteract the destructive aftermath is to reach out to our fellow global citizens in solidarity and peace and support each other in any way we can in the face of this adversity. There is massive emotional and integral strength in unity and support and this, IMHO, is the key in our mental survival going forward.
SPREAD THE LOVE!
For those of us that missed the 60’s … now’s our chance to re-engage the Free Love ideal (though I’m not personally endorsing going beyond hugging OK… virtual or otherwise!! lol) Don’t feel helpless or defeated by events that happen in other countries – we can all make a difference by treating those around us and the people we meet everyday with humanity and respect. To rephrase someone else and some other time… Everyone – no matter who you are – Everyone can make a difference.
Lots of Love and Hugs…. Helena x
I lived in New York for a few years and subsequently spent a few Christmases away from home. Not my most memorable but I will say they weren’t completely miserable, with the exception of one. And even that wasn’t completely miserable but it was pretty damn close. I was living with 3 sisters, one of whom is one of my closest friends from secondary school. I loved living with the girls; Owl, Woolie, Minnie and me (Crabby – obviously no reflection on my happy go lucky demeanour! 🙂 ). Our two bed apartment in Queens 
was a temple of femininity and giggles (and our fair share of frustrations and all that). The girls were all living in the US with green cards. I, however, was not and didn’t have the flexibility to travel home for Christmas. My family at home decided that they didn’t want me to be alone this particular year and much to my protest, elected to send my brother John over to me for two weeks (whether he wanted to or not, I should add). John’s about 18 months older than me and at that stage, was pretty much in his own world of alcohol and rage and being in New York for Christmas was not on his bucket list. Anyhoooooo, we made it to Christmas day in one piece, more or less… and by the luck of the Gods, we made it out the other side!! 😀 We were joined by another guy, a friend of the girls, Joe Woolhead, who was on his own for Christmas too.
somewhere else. I entered the kitchen and prepared my turkey…plopped it into the roasting tin on a base of carrots, onions and celery and seasoned it – covered it in tinfoil and into the oven. I tried to make my Mam’s stuffing and it was just like it, that is if my Mam’s stuffing is dry, sawdust like with no flavour!! My roast potatoes weren’t actually that bad, thanks be to Jaysus!! And my carrots and parsnips were grand, nothing to write home about! Joe arrived with his packet of biscuits and we watched some telly while the turkey finished cooking.
breast and thought to myself ‘Well done Crabby! This doesn’t look too bad’ It smelled lovely too. I went in for the second…thinking Hmmmm that looks ok… then the third and my stomach lurched. My heart started beating rapidly…I couldn’t actually carve the third slice all that easily and I could plainly see that it was still frozen!!! Holy F*CK!!! ‘Alright in there Incey??’ called John from the sitting room (my family nickname). I gulped and croaked in reply ‘Yeah…Grand… two minutes and you’ll be feasting like Kings!!’ Straight away, I thought to myself…What the hell am I talking about???
The Ravenous Woman 