Sunday Quote of the week (13/03/2011)

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“The worst realities of our age are manufactured realities. It is therefore our task, as creative participants in the universe, to re-dream our world. The fact of possessing imagination means that everything can be re dreamed. Each reality can have it. The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.”


-Ben Okri

The Gratitude Post: Once upon a story - (a blog for GarGar)

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I'm a writer, but in my 20's I spent many years resisting the urge to write stories, for fear of what people would think of me, and it was only 4 years ago that I thought about writing stories again. Recently, I was asked to write a children's play, and it reminded me of my own childhood and how grateful I am for what stories DID for me. Growing up, I had 14 major operations, and 2 near fatal incidents which required me to spend a lot time in hospital in recovery.  Consequently, I've spent a sizeable portion of my life in bed.:p (I know what you're thinking Living the dream :p).  Well, it's true that I like my sleep as much as the next person. But aside from being in a lot of pain,when you cant move out of bed even though you want to,  it can be feel very restrictive. The doctors would give me morphine and injections and stuff, but that wasn't what rescued me. What rescued me, was stories. You see, I had this AMAZING great Granddad (I called him my Gar Gar).  He would come in the hospital every day, and when I was in in pain, I would squeeze his hand to let him know, and immediately he would start telling me stories. Incredible stories! I don't know where his imagination came from! As I closed my eyes and focus the hundreds of amazing tales he would tell me, suddenly I wasn't Nadia in the hospital bed, I was an explorer travelling half way across the world to meet unknown civilisations with funny names, or a Princess in ancient Egypt with a court at my command, or my personal favourite, She-Ra's KICK ASS daughter. :p

Not only did his stories feed my imagination, but it made me realise how powerful the imagination is. As I imagined myself going on the adventures he described, I felt as if I was no longer in pain, no longer unable to move; as I listened to his stories I could go anywhere, do anything. And it was through these stories that I began to realise that I was more than my body, more than my limitations, more than my disability. So each time the doctor's told me and Mum that would take me another 6 months to get back up on my crutches, if at all, I knew that I was going to prove them wrong, because I was more than my physical disability. And later when I was told that wouldn't get into mainstream primary school, I knew I would prove them wrong, because I was more than my disability. And when I got into secondary school, and they said I wouldn't last the first year, I knew I would prove them wrong. That all started with Granddad's stories.

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Through events of teenage years, I lost faith in a lot of things, including myself - but I never lost faith in stories. I began to write lots and lots as a teen; it helped me get pain onto paper, so that I didn't have to carry it round with me everyday. Very recently, I've found that writing a blog every week, gives me confidence, and is helping me to come out of my shell again. And today I truly feel that the telling of stories, whether you do it through writing, acting, drawing, singing, dancing is more than entertainment, it's a way to heal ourselves. And I would encourage anyone to do it.  If you can find a way to tell your story and share it with others, then great - because your own story will help others.  But if not, do it for yourself anyway; write yourself a personal poem,  doesn't matter if it rhymes. Dance your feelings round your living room, put your story to a tune and sing it in the shower, draw a scene from your life using stick men -it doesn't matter how you do it, just feel free to do it At the end of the day, this is just a humble writer's opinion,  but personally, I really feel that expressing  your own soul's stories helps to release it from pain, gain confidence, and empower us to live life beyond  limitation. So if the feeling grabs you, honour it- and don't let fear hold you back!

Text written and posted by Nadia O'Connell

Gratitude Post: Change our vision, change our future (19/02/11)

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There are days when I thank God for a child's imagination. Sometimes, I think, in order to really imagine life as good as it could be, we have to look at it through the eyes of a child. When I was younger, I was often criticised for being too idealistic. I was told, all too often by adults, that my hopes and views of the future, and of other people were "unrealistic" and the result of living in in La La land. And today, whenever I talk to people about my hopes and prayers for unity and peace in the world, people say:  "I'll believe that when I see it" .

Well, here is my question: What if you have to believe something before you can see it? Take an athlete - it's well known that confidence in their ability to succeed is essential to all Olympians, and many athletes will tell you that they spend time visualising winning before they start a race - a positive vision is a MUST for success. Indeed every inventor, every great scientist, artist, and revolutionary from Albert Einstein to President Lincoln had to visualise a goal before it happened. Martin Luther King couldn't have known a black man would be elected as President of the U.S.,  but he believed in the potential of the black man in America, and refused to place any limitations on that potential, despite a torrid of doubters and nay sayers. Some might say well, "people like Martin Luther King were different -- they were special people." But they were human weren't they? Flesh and blood, just like you, and me: the same frailties, the same potential. They just weren't willing to accept the status quo, that's what made them different. They had a vision of something beyond their reality, the hope of how things COULD be.

So, if their visions for the future created so much positivity in the world,  and those visionaries were not that different from us, then we might ask ourselves, what visions are we selling to ourselves ,our future, our children? Every day, news and media is swamped with stories of hopelessness, unemployment, tragedy and unfulfilled potential.  I don't for one minute believe that that's all there is to sell. There are hundreds of positive stories out there.But they never get airtime, or room on the front page, because they're not significant enough. It's crazy really. A mother wouldn't say to her little boy:  " you know what son, there is no good in the world. Life is hopeless, heartbreaking and relentless, and  that's all you will ever know, or ever experience;  and you don't stand a hope in hell of changing anything because you have no potential, and are basically doomed." Any kid who heard that, would be paralysed. They would probably never try to make a positive change in their life, because they would cease to believe change is possible.  No mother in their right mind to do that to their child. and yet, as a society, we do to it to ourselves every day. While idealism is laughed at, society is fed on a daily drip of pessimism, sadness, and hopelessness. And hopelessness is a quicksand really, since without hope, we cannot have vision, and without vision, we do not have the drive to take action, and without action, we CANNOT change the status quo. So, next time something strikes you as idealistic, or impossible - my suggestion is -don't laugh it in the face, just indulge for a moment, and take a leap of faith. Feed that vision with the mind of a child - the child within you. Because, like all children, the child within you knows that all things are possible, and the status quo that the human race has created so far, can be recreated, and changed.

written and posted by Nadia O'Connell (19/02/11)

Sunday Quote of the week (13/02/2011)

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And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
      Your friend is your needs answered.
      He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
      And he is your board and your fireside.
      For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
      When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
      And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
      For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
      When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
      For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
      And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
      For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
      And let your best be for your friend.
      If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
      For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
      Seek him always with hours to live.
      For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
      And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
      For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. 


--Khalil Gibran

©1923 Khalil Gibran 

Gratitude Post: LOVESTORY SPECIAL -Love SUCKS...or does it? (11/02/11)

For someone who is insatiably romantic at heart, I get awful cynical  this time of year. Eleven months of year I'm all pink hearts and flowers, but the first 2 weeks of February arrive and my heart is the Arctic: frozen, cold and deadwood. Why? Well the pink bunny commercialism makes my skin crawl, and I've never seen the inside of a Valentine's card, so I just switch off, every February.
But this year, 4th of Febuary comes along, and clearing out my papers, I stumbled upon a poem, a BEAUTIFUL poem about the true meaning of friendship, that a friend had copied out for me 5 years ago. I'd forgotten about that! I found myself smiling as I read said poem, and weirder still I found my hand reaching for the telephone, as if automatically, and dialling the number of ANOTHER friend. "What the hell am I doing? I thought as I proceeded to recite the poem onto her answer phone machine. "It's February.This is wrong." At the last syllable, I put the phone down in disbelief. The ice had started to melt.

Then today,  I had builders round, dust flying everywhere, noise the lot. I couldn't write, so I decided to go the park across the road which is something I never do. But it was cold, so first I went to the unromantic local greasey spoon and ordered a takeaway tea. All was well. But as the tea lady handed me my tea on its card board tray - I was OFFENDED! "There you go!" She dazzled. "And there's some chocolate hearts there for Valentine's Day we're giving them to all our customers.-Happy Valentine!" I couldn't believe it - this was a greasey spoon! I'd asked for a cup of tea, not a marriage proposal! I wanted to politely tell her where she could shove her commercial tokens of meaningless affection, but as I looked down at the chocolate hearts -and looked up at her face beaming back at me - that warm feeling came over me again -and I just couldn't!

Finally I'm in the park - no loved up commercial crap could bother me here. Let the sulking begin. But before I could sulk, I noticed how the birdsong was unusually clear and annoyingly beautiful as it filled my eardrums. In panic I turned around to see the tallest man, with a scary face, a skin head, and a big dog walking towards me, commenting on 'what a beautiful day it was' and 'didn't the birdsong sound extraordinary?' I wanted to cry out: "Shouldn't you be mugging me or something? What's wrong with you?" What's wrong with the world?"

But before I could reply the HUGE labrador dog ran over and started licking my hands and put his paw on  my lap! And at that moment - the cynic died. The ice thawed. Puppy love.

So this year, despite a life time of reservations - I have to say - I AM  even grateful  for Valentines celebrations - I suppose. ;-)

written and posted by Nadia O'Connell

Gratitude Post: What are we fighting for?

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I have no desire to turn this site into a political /protest blog but I feel I must, for this post, make my voice heard in response to government plans to allow the shut down of so many libraries in the UK, by asserting that I AM GRATEFUL FOR LIBRARIES. I understand that in times of recession difficult decisions must be made when it comes to 'non essential services' in this country. I can even understand how, with the advent of Kindle, and downloadable books,  libraries might be seen to be 'non essential' nowadays. However, does the closure of such places not point to a deeper issue than just, well, books?

After all, it's not just libraries that are suffering is it? It's libraries, and museums, art galleries, theatres, concert halls, film agencies etc.  And it's not just now that cut backs to these services are taking place. Ever since I can remember, theatres and other places of artistic value have constantly struggled and vied for public funds. As if art has no value. It's only art right? It's not money making, economy saving, or a Corporation is it? It's not a banker's bonus, is it? No. It's much more important than that. It's the language of of our souls. The soul does not speak in English, Chinese, Spanish or footsie for that matter. The soul is expressed in the intricacies of a painting, the vibration of a dance, the harmony of a song, the chapters of a book.

 So I am grateful for libraries, and theatres, and galleries, and concert halls - these monuments to the voice of man's soul. And you may think it a worthy sacrifice when we've got an economy to save, and a standard of living to uphold, but I think only of the words of Winston Churchill, who, when pressured to cut funds to the arts for the sake of World War 2 replied: "Then what are we fighting for?"

written and posted by Nadia O'Connell

Sunday Quote of the week (06/02/2011)

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To try, to persevere, is to ensure ultimate and complete victory."  
- Shoghi Effendi