I know, it’s not even Samhain yet, and I’m already speaking about preparing for Imbolc.
But there’s a reason for it. Namely, I start preparing for Imbolc around the time of Samhain. In the same way I start preparing for Samhain around the time of Lúnasa. But for Imbolc, I take some of ye along with me on the journey.
Let’s be serious, ye already knew lighting candles was ging to be a part of this!
And it’s no joke to say that I start writing about this nearly every year at this time…
What takes so long, FFS?
Well yeah, ok here’s the thing. I prepare for Imbolc over three months, because I considering the time between Samhain and Imbolc to be my dreaming period. My planning period. I’ve taken stock of where I am and what I’ve achieved between Lúnasa and Samhain. So, Samhain to Imbolc is the heavy work.
I prepare for Imbolc in the physical, emotional and spiritual realms.
And I allocate about a month for each in my preparation cycle. Imbolc isn’t just an event to me, it’s a season. And as such, I use it as part of my seasonal work. I mean, I go through a cycle of physical, emotional and spiritual work in all seasons, but for Imbolc it’s extra special preparation.
And yeah, that’s cos of the links with Brigid. Definitely.
But it’s also because I consider the work done between Samhain and Imbolc as the most important in the year. It’s how I set up my year, plan my year, engage with my audience to find out what’s needed and what isn’t for the coming year.
It’s my time for reflection, review, engagement… all of that good stuff.
And it takes time.
Preparing for Imbolc is a whole-person approach for me. And it’s different every year. There are some basics that stay the same, and I’ll talk about them down below, but the specifics change, over and over again.
Physically preparing for Imbolc
OK, a lot of this is cleaning. Seriously.
Thankfully Christmas happens between Samhain and Imbolc, otherwise, I’d never get things as clean as I want for the season. But there is a feeling or a need to clear our the house come spring. Which as we know, starts to show it’s face around Imbolc. It’s not the height of spring – I’d label that as the equinox. But still…
And particularly with Imbolc, after the winter season of closing doors and windows, there’s a great need to let the fresh air. To clear out the corners. Get the energy moving again.
(This is northern hemisphere based and four-seasons based of course. If you’re in a different season rotation – you may need to adjust!)
But preparing for Imbolc by getting things going again really feels apt for the season in Ireland and the stage of the year. And a good scrubbing of the house really helps get the energy moving again. As does a clean breeze coming through.
Now, of course, you may get complaints from certain inhabitants about the cold, etc. But I dare anyone not to enjoy the feeling of a truly clean, fresh house.
And it gives us a clean slate to start the rest of the year with. Which feeds into…
Emotionally preparing for Imbolc
Now, I’m the last to tell anyone how they might feel or how their emotions might affect them. But I know for me and mine, the dark winter months are touch, emotionally speaking. I tend to leave the house in the dark and get back to work in the dark.
In fact this started last week – admittedly, I was in work for 7am, but still. There is a definitely shortening of both morning and evening light. And this has an effect on our mood. Even the HSE, our health and safety people, recommend everyone in the country should take a vitamin D supplement.
Image taken from the HSE website
I mean, half the country is on anti-depressants, even with the gorgeous scenery. And that standing joke about God not letting it rain for 40 days and 40 nights anymore, but 40 days and 39 and a half nights is definitely within scope is accurate here.
How much does it rain?
As is our assessment of other climate’s rainy season. I remember being in Gambia years ago and being warned I was going during the rainy season. They got a mere 2 hours of rain every day and you could set your clock by it…
That was a gorgeous summer as far as I was concerned!
(Before anyone starts- I know monsoons and other dramatic rain are far worse than what we get. But for days of rain per year, we’re kinda up there. There’s a reason all the fields are green, ok?)
So, all in all, looking after our emotional health is important this time of year. It’s also why I consider the lighting of candles and fires to be an essential component of preparing for Imbolc. Not just about the connections of Brigid and fire. It’s about that deep seated emotional need we have for light at this dark time of the year.
Spiritually preparing for Imbolc
I mean, ye know this was coming, right? It’s not like I hide it.
And while the physical and emotional preparation are vitally important, the spiritual preparation for Imbolc is at the core of what the celebration means to me.
And the spiritual preparation can be deeply personal. For anyone! Of course there will be the public stuff. I am mostly likely to run a virtual retreat this year, again. There’s a good chance I’ll be sharing the public or public-friendly bits of my celebration on Instagram or in the Facebook group.
But there are always personal parts. I might share the fact that a spiritual shower or sacred cleanse is an important part of my celebration, but I don’t usually share the explicit details of it. I might share a pic of my brat Bhríde hanging from the door. It’s not so likely I’ll share the details of the prayers and blessings I add into my own private ritual.
There is always that dividing line for me between the publicly available stuff and the personal stuff. Whether that stuff is personal gnosis or just none of anyone else’s business doesn’t matter.
What does matter is that when I’m teaching, I give you the tools to develop your own practices. Because that’s where the value is. Not in copying what I do by rote.
Heads up
So this is a heads up. A heads up for both you and me.
We’ll be starting the course on 1st November. It ends up usually being about 5 classes over three months… I’m great at planning these things to be even and regular… not. So, there’s usually a gap over Christmas, but don’t worry. Sessions are recorded and usually available within a day or two.
Trust me, St. Brigid had a temper! This is prompted by yet another query in the Facebook group at the weekend saying they can only find “meek and mild” depictions of St. Brigid. Now, I’ve written about this before, but this time, I feel it’s worth exploring in more depth in a fully blog post.
Now look. This isn’t going to be our usual stuff. I’m talking purely about the saint in this post and I will be referring to the hagiographies available on UCC Celt.
PIcture of my Brigid stature, holding a flame, in front of a cauldron, with a lit tea light on the cauldron and a Brigid’s cross in between. What sort of meek and mild woman holds fire in her palms?
Example 1: Rejecting a marriage offer
This to me is a key understanding of St. Brigid’s temper. Her Da isn’t too bad here, but her brothers are being a pain in the arse. So she takes steps. Seriously steps.
Shortly afterwards a man came to Dubthach’s house to woo Brigit. His name was Dubthach moccu Lugair. That pleased her father and her brothers. ‘It is difficult for me’, said Brigit, ‘I have offered up my virginity to God. I will give you advice. There is a wood behind your house, and there is a beautiful maiden [therein]. She will be betrothed to you, and this is how you will recognize it: You will find an enclosure wide open and the maiden will be washing her father’s head and they will give you a greater welcome, and I will bless your face and your speech so that whatever you say will please them.’ It was done as Brigit said.
Her brothers were grieved at her depriving them of the bride-price. There were poor people living close to Dubthach’s house. She went one day carrying a small load for them. Her brothers, her father’s sons, who had come from Mag Lifi, met her. Some of them were laughing at her; others were not pleased with her, namely Bacéne, who said: ‘The beautiful eye which is in your head will be betrothed to a man though you like it or not.’ Thereupon she immediately thrusts her finger into her eye. ‘Here is that beautiful eye for you’, said Brigit. ‘I deem it unlikely’, said she, ‘that anyone will ask you for a blind girl.’ Her brothers rush about her at once save that there was no water near them to wash the wound. ‘Put’, said she, ‘my staff about this sod in front of you.’ That was done. A stream gushed forth from the earth. And she cursed Bacéne and his descendants, and said: ‘Soon your two eyes will burst in your head.’ And it happened thus.
Dubthach said to her: ‘Take the veil then, my daughter, for this is what you desire. Distribute this holding to God and man.’ ‘Thanks be to God’, said Brigit.
Not only did she put her suitor off, but when her Bacéne tried to force her, she plucked out her own eye to stop him and then burst his two eyes as punishment. This is not the action of a meek and mild, biddable woman. This is a woman who has grown up with a bunch of brothers and is well used to fighting back. St. Brigid is used to losing her temper in this scenario and knows she pays her brother back
Example 2: Healing a leper – possibly out of spite
On the same Easter Sunday there came to her a certain leper from whom his limbs were falling, to ask for a cow. ‘For God’s sake, Brigit, give me a cow.’ ‘Grant me a respite’, said Brigit. ‘I would not grant you’, said he, ‘even the respite of a single day.’ ‘My son, let us await the hand of God’, said Brigit. ‘I will go off’, said the leper. ‘I will get a cow in another stead although I obtain it not from you.’ ‘. . .’, said Brigit, ‘and if we were to pray to God for the removal of your leprosy, would you like that?’, ‘No’, said he, ‘I obtain more this way than when I shall be clean.’ ‘It is better’, said Brigit, ‘. . . and you shall take a blessing [and] shall be cleansed.’ ‘All right then’, said he, ‘for I am sorely afflicted.’ ‘How will this man be cleansed?’, said Brigit to her maidens. ‘Not hard, O nun. Let your blessing be put on a mug of water, and let the leper be washed with it afterwards.’ It was done thus and he was completely cured. ‘I shall not go’, said the leper, ‘from the cup which has healed me — I shall be your servant and woodman.’ Thus it was done.
Now, ok, plenty of people read this differently to me. They see it as St. Brigid looking for a way to support this poor leper one way or another. But when I view it, I see it as an exasperated Brigid looking to get this man away from her one way or another. In other words, St. Brigid losing her temper in exasperation.
He says explicitly he doesn’t want to be healed, but she goes ahead anyway to heal him. No one else ever seen a healer heal someone out of spite? I sure as hell have!
And the poor woman ends up stuck with him anyway, because she has to take him on as a servant. Can you imagine the frustration she felt… Or possibly a consequence for St. Brigid losing her temper!
Example 3: Unfair dealings with “her” bishop and St. Brigid loses her temper
On the following day, Tuesday, there was a good man nearby who was related to Brigit. He had been a full year ailing. ‘Take for me today’, said he, ‘the best cow in my byre to Brigit, and let her pray to God for me, to see if I shall be cured.’ The cow was brought, and Brigit said to those who brought it: ‘Take it immediately to Mel.’ They brought it back to their house and exchanged it for another cow unknown to their sick man. That was related to Brigit, who was angry at the deceit practised on her. ‘Between a short time from now and the morning’, said Brigit, ‘wolves shall eat the good cow which was given into my possession and which was not brought to you’, said she to Mel, ‘and they shall eat seven oxen in addition to it.’ That was related then to the sick man. ‘Go’, said he, ‘take to her seven oxen of choice of the byre.’ It was done thus. ‘Thanks be to God’, said Brigit. ‘Let them be taken to Mel to his church. He has been preaching and saying Mass for us these seven days between the two Easters; a cow each day to him for his labour, it is not greater than what he has given; and take a blessing with all eight, a blessing on him from whom they were brought’, said Brigit. When she said that he was healed immediately.
This time, St. Brigid is explicitly described as “angry” and well she might be. Deceit is not something she tolerates much, unless it’s for the greater good. And in this case, it was depriving a holy man from his just payment. Not to mention, putting into danger the healing of the sick man. Even if St. Brigid didn’t have a temper, any healer would be angry at a patient being put into danger.
Example 4: St. Brigid losing her temper at a cantankerous woman
Oh yes, I love this one! When St. Brigid doesn’t adhere to what a donor expects after receiving a gift of apples, both the woman and St. Brigid lose their tempers!
Once she was hurrying on the bank of the Inny. There were many apples and sweet sloes in that church. A certain nun gave her a small gift in a basket of bark. When she brought [it] into the house, lepers came at once into the middle of the house to beg of her. ‘Take’, said she, ‘yonder apples’, Then she who had presented the apples [said]: ‘I did not give the gift to lepers.’ Brigit was displeased and said: ‘You act wrongly in prohibiting gifts to the servants of God; therefore your trees shall never bear any fruit.’ And the donor, on going out, sees that all at once her garden bore no fruit, while shortly before it had abundant fruits. And it remains barren for ever, except for foliage.
Now, ok, it’s saying St. Brigid was “displeased”, but honestly, denying the woman and the tree any further fruit on the basis of the woman’s behaviour reeks of temper to me!
Just from one hagiography?
Yes, that’s just from the one hagiography. And remember – these stories were meant to show the best of the saints they venerated. So the saint having a temper, losing said temper, getting angry, taking steps… none of this was considered wrong or to be concerned about.
It was something important – that she would stand up and use her anger and her temper to support those she deemed in need of it. Whether it was herself, with her brothers, her bishop, her patients… whoever and whatever, she used that temper.
But don’t be coming to me saying she’s all meek and mild. For the love of all you hold holy, read the damn manuscripts! They’re available for free!!
After the dirty mire of my post earlier this week, I wanted to do a bit of a brain cleanser and work towards something positive. So I wanted to write a bit about the Brigid Sessions. I’m having a lot of fun with people joining these sessions, and because they are a short, focused means of coaching, it helps a lot more people.
So you’re selling something?
Well, yes. That is the base of this deal. For a price of $227 or €197, you get three sessions with me.
Session 1: Know Yourself (45–60 mins) We begin with you. Your gifts, your resources, and the places in your life where Brigid’s energy is most needed. This is a deep, intuitive dive into your personal landscape.
Session 2: Co-Create Your Path (30 mins) Together, we’ll shape your next steps. Whether it’s joining a local group, starting a creative or spiritual project, or something entirely unique—we’ll craft a plan that feels aligned and doable.
Session 3: Refine & Rise (30 mins, one week-ish later) After you’ve had time to explore and reflect, we’ll meet again to adjust and refine. You’ll leave with clarity, confidence, and a sense of sacred momentum.
This is targeted coaching on a single issue. Although, I should warn you, no onewho has signed up so far has ended up delving deep into the issue they thought they were signing up for.
So, no one is getting what they want?
Not exactly.
I’ve had someone sign up to talk about a portable altar, and end up talking about how to gain Brigid’s help in engaging with her mother.
Someone else came in looking for support on connecting with Brigid, we ended up clarifying her meditation practices and how to work through difficult times.
The last example I’ll give is someone going through a very messy, difficult break up. And looking for some Brigid support. We ended up working through water magic and going with the flow.
(OK, if I’m honest, there’s been more than one example that would fit into the above three samples. I’m trying to keep things vague enough so people don’t feel identified, while concrete enough to let you see what’s going on).
But as always with Brigid, things are rarely clear cut. And sometimes that first session, the deep dive into your current situation, resources, gifts and the bits of your life that Brigid could help with – that’s truly valuable. Hence why it’s so long, compared to the other two.
Because once you get clear on what and where you want that help, the asking for help is reasonably straightforward.
Who is this for?
Well for anyone. But as ye all know, I predominantly work with women, coming out of a rigid spiritual set-up, usually from a Catholic/ Christian background, with an interest in Irish spirituality.
As well as people looking for an extremely practical approach to things.
This is highly unlikely to end up giving you energetic work to do. It’s far more likely to have you out digging a garden than praying. Prayer is always a useful part of life. Don’t get me wrong. But in my experience, prayer supports practical action, not the other way around.
So, is there a thorny issue in your side that you want to deal with? Are you prepared for some close questioning to get to the root of your issue?
Is there something you feel you can ask Brigid for help with, but it feels vague and airy-fairy?
Given the mess that is in the US right now, I’m doing the same here as I do for the Hope and Healing Hub. For every full paying session, I’m gifting one as well.
So, if money is an issue, reach out and I’ll put you on the list.
Most of all?
Remember Brigid looks after the cowless. She worked to help women in her community. She stands for those women in male-dominated professions.
Her help is there – but she won’t cross the line without being asked.
Yeah, I’m jumping on the Charlie Kirk bandwagon. For the record, before we get into the nuance of this situation I want to make a few things clear:
I lean hard left – basic universal income, everyone has a right to human dignity, being human and worthy of rights doesn’t depend on so-called “productivity” type left
I think fewer guns in circulation would solve a lot of US issues
I suppose trade unions, community action, <40 hour working week, working parents/guardians/ carers supports, and a lot more
I’m pro-LGBTQIA+ and think that people should be able to dress what as they want.
I’m also firmly of the opinion that what consenting adults do in private is their own business. As soon as either consent, adults or private is no longer the case, then the law has the right to intervene.
So, with all that said, ye already know this isn’t going to be a ringing endorsement of Charlie Kirk, right?
Who was Charlie Kirk?
I got to be honest here: before this man was murdered, I hadn’t heard of him in a way to take notice of him. And looking back at his career, that makes sense. With the whole global shitshow going on right now, I don’t pay attention to every right wing speaker on college campuses in the States.
Sorry, but that’s just the way life is.
But here we go:
Charlie Kirk was born in Chicago (I think) on 14th October 1993. He was born into what he has described as a “moderate” Republican family. His first taste of fame came when he appeared on Fox Business at age 17, for writing an essay for Breitbart News on the apparent liberal bias in education (according to him…)
This appears to have given him a taste for the limelight. (That sentence right there is pure opinion on my part, by the way.) But seeing as how he went on to fund Turning Point USA the following year, an organisation ostensibly to “advocate for conservative politics on high school, college and university campuses”. No, I’m not linking to the websites for this, I find them troubling, disgusting and creepy.
As part of Turning Point USA, the Professor Watchlist was published. This is a list which outlines and lists academic staff that Turning Point USA deem to “discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.” In the days since Charlie Kirk’s murder, I’ve seen many professors, academics and other people involved in teaching people from primary school to college saying this list has lead to abuse, intimidation and general health and safety concerns for those listed on it.
The debate…
One of the things I have heard about Charlie Kirk is that he was one of the few people still willing to debate issues concerning both the right and left wing in US politics. All I can say is, that having listening to some of the rhetoric he considered debating, I shudder for the state of politics in the US. He browbeat opponents, often people years his junior. He used all sorts of straw man argument. Ad hominem attacks. Devil’s advocate type approaches. A lot of cherry picking of statistics… Listen, go look up the wikipedia article above on straw man arguments. Then look at the “see also” list below it. There’s pretty much a lovely list there that covers a lot of what Charlie Kirk used in his debates.
For example, in the “debate”, during which he was murdered, he was engaging in the following exchange:
ATTENDEE: Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?
KIRK: Too many. [Applause]
ATTENDEE: In America, it’s five. Now, five is a lot, right, I’m going to give you — I’m going to give you some credit. Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?
KIRK: Counting or not counting gang violence?
Now, the fact that Charlie Kirk was anti trans is well established – we’ll get into some of his more horrible quotes later, but Snopes has debunked this theory that in the US, mass shooters are disproportionately transgender. From what I can see, on that page linked above in SNopes and they’re basing their figures on the Violence Prevention Project, 96% of all mass shooters, according to their definition of mass shootings, are cis male.
0.5% (or 1) were transgender.
Charlie Kirk in his own words
Now, I’m taking a lot of the following quotes from the Guardian article on him. Using his own words. Fair warning, we’re looking at racism, sexism, anti-immigration, anti-islamic, very right wing, horrible words below. So, read on at your peril.
On race
If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.
– The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024
If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine?
If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because of affirmative action?
If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. Now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.
We record all of it so that we put [it] on the internet so people can see these ideas collide. When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity.
– Kirk discussing his work in an undated clip that circulated on X after his killing.
Prove me wrong.
– Kirk’s challenge to students to publicly debate him during the tour of colleges he was on when he was assassinated.
On gender, feminism and reproductive rights
Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.
– Discussing news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement on The Charlie Kirk Show, 26 August 2025
The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered.
– Responding to a question about whether he would support his 10-year-old daughter aborting a pregnancy conceived because of rape on the debate show Surrounded, published on 8 September 2024
We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor. We need it immediately.
America was at its peak when we halted immigration for 40 years and we dropped our foreign-born percentage to its lowest level ever. We should be unafraid to do that.
The great replacement strategy, which is well under way every single day in our southern border, is a strategy to replace white rural America with something different.
We’ve been warning about the rise of Islam on the show, to great amount of backlash. We don’t care, that’s what we do here. And we said that Islam is not compatible with western civilization.
I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.
– Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023
Why am I writing about this man?
There’s a few reasons. First, it’s a key debate that many of my US based audience are dealing with right now. Second, the truth is rarely black and white. Although in this case, it appears to be reasonably extremely dark grey and extremely light grey. Third, Brigid told me to.
I’ve seen a lot of hatred of this man on social media over the last few days, and a lot of hatred for the hatred if that makes sense. But one comment – made against a friend of mine – stood out.
“In this country [Ireland], we don’t speak ill of the dead.”
Now, traditionally, this has been held to be the “respectable” position. Check here for why I don’t consider respectable a reasonable status most of the time. But that phrase “don’t speak ill of the dead” struck a chord with me. Because, as a rule, in Ireland, it has been the case. People don’t tend to speak ill of someone once they’ve passed. They can no longer defend themselves, after all.
But that approach has been changing, and changing for the better. Not everyone who dies on this island is a saint, and families are ever more able and capable of addressing the dark deeds of the past and not bury them with the dead. “Don’t speak ill of the dead” has been used for generations to silence victims – of rape, of abuse, of torture… And it’s important in our decolonisation as a country, a nation and a people that we speak out now.
So, while it’s acting against everything that’s been taught us, I think it behoves us to act when we see people sanctifying and glorifying someone who espoused evil while they were alive.
His. Own. Words.
I have no problem hanging Charlie Kirk out to dry with his own words. There are plenty of people who support them. I’m not one of those people. This man stood for pretty much everything I see wrong with this world. He stood for fascism in a time when fascism is a very real threat in the world. He sought to silence those who spoke out against his world view.
I mean, he helped enact and supported policies to keep the poor, poor. The downtrodden under the boot. To keep minorities in their place – well, their place as he saw it. And in particular, the LGBQIA+ community. Various parties are actively engaging in conversations to promote him as a bastion of debate. Having tainted my brain with some of his so-called debates – they weren’t debates as I know them. They were attempts to force people to accept his point of view.
And, having now tainted my brain like that, I’m very happy to accept that there are people out there celebrating his death.
Charlie Kirk wasn’t Hitler. But he could have been a very high ranking Nazi, holding the views that he did. I can see him standing right beside the Führer at one of the mass rallies. Because he did organise mass rallies all over the US. And tolerated no dissent from his views.
Celebrate life, not death
Yeah, this one is tough. And it links to “don’t speak ill of the dead” or “if you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all”.
And that’s all fine and dandy, most of the time. But not when basic human rights are being eroded all over the world and a massive swing towards the right, towards the fascist ideologies are coming to the fore.
I can see people reaching back to the Brehon laws, highlighting the ones that lean into that right wing stretch. But I’ve never claimed to want to recreate the Brehon laws in totality. The world has moved on. My worth and my word are not half my husband’s. I’m not my husband’s property, or my father’s for that matter. There are times they are both hugely grateful they can’t be held responsible for my actions.
So, for all the people drawing on that “Brehon laws said…” yeah, they did. But they weren’t perfect. They were built for the communities they supported over 1500 years ago. Not modern society.
We have different understandings of people’s roles in society now. A better understanding of equality under the law.
Anyone who is reaching out and saying we should support Charlie Kirk as Irish people because he held true to ancient laws… They’re full of shit and using bits and bobs of our heritage for their own gain.
What I am and am not interested in
I’m not interested in recreating the Ireland of 1500 years ago, or of 3000 years ago. We developed far more and far better solutions to our issues and governance than our ancestors had. I’m interested in building a better society for all of us.
And I’m tying into Brig Ambue here. Looking for the less well off, the hopeless, the ones that don’t have a future. How do we, as a community, serve those people? I’m not interested in holding people down. I want all people to play an active role in society, as best suits them.
That doesn’t necessarily mean holding to traditional gender roles. I don’t rule it out, but honestly – I don’t do that, so why would I expect anyone else to do that? Look at my linkedin profile if you’re interested in how I can say that. Yeah, there are solid reasons I feel closer to the Smith than the Poet or the Healer.
I don’t think that people who have children out of wedlock are to be damned. Why would I? They’re still human. Neither they nor their offspring deserve to be treated differently. Other than considering what supports they might need in life.
I’m not joining in the celebrations of Charlie Kirk’s death. He just wasn’t important enough in my life for that.
So what am I saying?
I understand the many people who are celebrating this death.
Yeah, I think it’s ironic he died in a shooting incident, given his views on gun control.
I feel sorry for his children, having lost their father. I hope they can grow up in a place of love, not hate. And with a bit of luck, they will not have a path to escape their father’s rigid spirituality.
His wife? No, not overly sorry for her. She supported him. And as far as I can tell, shared his views.
I hope the politicians and commentators who have been besmirching the left over the last few days can come to their sense on key issues now. I don’t hold out much hope. But there’s some hope there.
The young man who killed Charlie Kirk? I hope he gets the treatment he deserves.
To those of you still clinging to the “be nice” side of the coin: I hope you never have to confront a situation where “being nice” serves to cause harm to you or those around you. I don’t live in that space.
Being honest hurts people sometimes. And there are times it’s not necessary. “Charlie Kirk held extreme views on abortion” is not the same as “I hated that casserole”. And yes, I think forcing victims of rape to carry their rapists child is an extreme view. Charlie Kirk said that about his own daughter – that he would force her to carry the child.
He was a horrible obnoxious human being and the world is better off without him. (And yes, that there is another opinion of mine, just to finish off the post).
The last few weeks have been a roller coaster of feeling small and how it affects us. So, today I want to talk about the different ways in which Brigid takes up space.
And, possibly more importantly, how we can learn from it!
The death of a son
I’ve spoken about Ruadhán’s death before on the blog. And there’s a whole course on the excerpt over in the school. So, I have a lot to say about this aspect of Brigid. But today, I’m going to talk about her taking up space.
Primarily, in the enemy camp of the Fomorians.
Seriously – Brig followed Ruadhán to his father’s presence in the Fomorian assembly.
But after the spear had been given to him, Rúadán turned and wounded Goibniu. He pulled out the spear and hurled it at Rúadán so that it went through him; and he died in his father’s presence in the Fomorian assembly. Bríg came and keened for her son. At first she shrieked, in the end she wept. Then for the first time weeping and shrieking were heard in Ireland. (Now she is the Bríg who invented a whistle for signalling at night.)
I mean, on the one hand, she was the wife of Bres (at one time anyway) and the mother of the dead child. So, we’re looking at someone who could be deemed to belong there.
But equally, she had fairly obvious strong ties to the Tuatha De Danann camp, potentially far stronger than a rotten marriage to a deposed king.
Was this a safe place for Brig?
Probably not. But she took up the space she needed. She keened. Mourned her son. And did what needed to be done.
Brigid taking up space – and food
OK, so the myriad of ways in which Brigid takes space and food throughout her hagiographies is vast.
Brigid, taking up space in Kildare!
She gives away butter – then makes sure the dairy provides what’s needed for the family anyway. She feeds an old hound from the meat meant for guests, and still manages to have enough for the guests. (Although in that case, the guests felt ashamed by her actions and decided to give their food to the poor in imitation of her actions)
Every store of food which she saw and served used to grow. She bettered the sheep: she tended the blind: she fed the poor.
Not to mention the time she gave away a valuable chain and her nuns came to her complaining they’d no money for food and clothes, when she came out with this zinger:
‘Ye are sinning,’ saith Brigit: ‘Go ye into the church : the place wherein I make prayer, there will ye find your chain.’ They went at Brigit’s word. But, though it had been given to the poor man, the virgins found their chain therein.
Brigit went to Bishop Ibair that he may mark out her city for her. So they came thereafter to the place where Kildare is to-day. That was the season and the time that Ailill son of Dunlaing, with a hundred horse-loads of peeled rods, chanced to be going through the ground of Kildare. Two girls came from Brigit to ask for some of the rods, and they got a refusal. Forthwith all the horses were struck down under their loads against the ground. Stakes and wattles were taken from them, and they arose not until Ailill son of Dunlaing had offered unto Brigit those hundred horse-loads; and thereout was built Saint Brigit’s house in Kildare.
I mean, blackmail might not be quite the word here, but it’s certainly implied blackmail.
Sure what would the man be doing with that many rods anyway???
Standing up for justice
Now you might think that Brigid didn’t have much to do with justice, but she freed captives.
Brigit went into the province of Fir Ross to loosen a captive who was in manu with the King of Ross. Said Brigit: ‘Wilt thou set that captive free for me?’ The King replied: ‘Though thou shouldst give me the realm of the men of Breg, I would not give him to thee. But go not with a refusal,’ saith the King. ‘For one night thou shalt have the right to guard his life for him.’ Then Brigit appeared at the close of day to the captive and said to him: ‘When the chain shall be opened for thee repeat this hymn, Nunc populus, and turn to thy right hand and flee.’ Thus it is done, and the captive flees at the word of Brigit.
rigit, and certain virgins with her, went to Bishop Mél, in Telcha Mide, to take the veil. Glad was he thereat. For humbleness Brigit staid, so that she might be the last to whom the veil should be given. A fiery pillar arose from her head to the ridgepole of the church. Bishop Mél asked: ‘What virgin is there?’ Answered MacCaille: ‘That is Brigit,’ saith he. ‘Come thou, O holy Brigit,’ saith Bishop Mél, ‘that the veil may be sained on thy head before other virgins.’
It came to pass then, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, that the form of ordaining a bishop was read over Brigit. MacCaille said that ‘The order of a bishop should not be (conferred) on a woman.’ Dixit Bishop Mél: ‘No power have I in this matter, inasmuch as by God hath been given unto her this honour beyond every woman.’ Hence, it is that the men of Ireland give the honour of bishop to Brigit’s successor.
Yup, she was ordained a bishop and hence the honour of a bishop and precedence was granted to Brigid’s successor – until 1169 when the then successor was raped by Dermot McMurrough’s troops and divested of her station. (And then threw in McMurrough’s niece as reverend mother who then in turn, gave up her precedence to take her “proper place” behind the men…)
Not to mention healing a leper and then re-infecting him because of his behaviour afterwards.
What can we learn from this?
Sometimes, we have to venture into discomfort to learn things. I’m not one that says every bad experience is a teaching moment – well ok, maybe I am, even if the teaching moment is that some people are assholes. But there are times when we, like Brigid, take up space in ways that just isn’t comfortable. Discomfort doesn’t mean it’s bad. It just means it’s not comfortable and not habitual.
Sometimes, taking up space makes us a target in ways we don’t like. That doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile or that we avoid doing it. Sometimes, you feel the fear and do it anyway. At other times, you look at the risks and decide something isn’t worth it.
But don’t take the smaller stance just by default. Because there isn’t a clear way to win then.
Brigid was born of a slave – according to the hagiographies. And her mother is completely unknown in the pre-Christian lore. Her husband was a bad king. Her child(ren) (depending on which lore you’re reading) was (were) killed. Justly or unjustly, depending on your point of view.
And yet she endures. She was ordained a bishop. She founded a monastic institution that resonates through the centuries to us. We hold her close as Poet, Smith and Healer.
Brigid took up, and still takes up, space. In Ireland and elsewhere.
I’ve written before, on several occasions about Brigid, the sea and healing, which is reminiscent of the Brigid sea’s soothing nature.
A picture of me in the sea at Tramore – healing with Brigid
But a few weeks ago, I was reminded why I associate Brigid with the sea and healing so much. Now the history of healing and the sea is long established. Anyone who has ever read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Anne Bronte (or indeed her sisters, Charlotte and Emily) will know that “taking the sea air” was considered a remedy in 19th century Britain at least. (And because of colonialism, in Ireland as well – for those that could afford it!)
That was mostly due to the lack of pollution in sea side areas, as well as the fashion for promenading along the sea front and taking some time away from the stresses of modern living, akin to the gentle embrace of the Brigid sea. Personally, I can’t think of much more stressful than having to change outfits 20 times a day and trying to catch a good husband, who I would then go on to live with from the age of <20… (I may be exaggerating the average experience here, but y’know – it’s my blog!)
And I can equally think that getting enough food on the table might be every so slightly stressful for those not in the higher echelons of society. Not to mention, keeping everyone semi-healthy, alive, clothed… Stress was high in previous centuries. It was just a bit more obvious than today’s stress. But either way, I can’t see how the sea doesn’t help with stress!! From the shore anyway.
Brigid’s links with the sea
Alright, being fair about it, the only story I’ve ever come across linking the deity and the sea was the folk tale in Courtney Weber’s book, where Brigid and Bres met on the seashore to mourn Ruadhán. Neither she nor I have been able to find the source for that – but I’ve not given up yet! Such stories connect Brigid and the sea in intriguing ways.
However.
However.
Let’s not give up hope yet. Through the saint, Brigid is closely related to healing wells. And healing wells have water in them. Usually, anyway. As I have said before, you can’t walk more than a few paces on this island before tripping over a healing well, a stream, a pond, whatever-you’re-having-yourself…
We’re a wet country. Comes from all the rain. We have a lot of wells. We have a lot of water in general. (OK, the water authority will declare drought after 20mins without rain, but they’re known for being a bit concerned about things like that!)
And sea water is basically rain water that’s travelled from the fields to the sea. It’s still water. And therefore linked to Brigid. Even without the folk tale.
But the folk tale is an interesting one – particularly when one of the options for Formorians was coming from either over or under the sea. (Seeing as Ireland was an island, well how else would they get here!) So, seeing as how Brigid married into the Formorians through Bres, she has a link at least to the sea.
Aside from the possibility that Brigid herself came from over the sea (I’ll write a blogpost on this another time. It’s linked to the idea that Brigid came to Ireland via the Brigantes from Northern England. Yes, I have feelings about this…)
The sea itself
Now, bathing in sea water is beneficial for all sorts of things.
Skin Health: Seawater is rich in minerals like magnesium, zinc, and potassium, which can help reduce inflammation and soothe skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema.
Respiratory Issues: Saltwater can help with symptoms of hay fever, sinusitis, and asthma.
Immunity: Seawater can help boost a weakened immune system, although more research is needed to confirm this.
Stress Reduction: The relaxing environment of the sea and the minerals in seawater can help lower cortisol levels and promote relaxation.
Pain Relief: Seawater has been used to ease pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders.
Wound Healing: Some believe that seawater can help heal wounds and prevent infections.
In my family, sea water is notorious for helping with ingrown toenails that get infected and athlete’s foot. And I can confirm that definitely my hayfever symptoms improve dramatically from spending time by the sea. (My hayfever symptoms also improve dramatically from spending time in Monart‘s Alpine salt grotto. But driving to Tramore is significantly cheaper. Usually.)
Now, of course, not all of the above might apply to you. But even the salt content in sea water means people can float a lot easier. And it’s so relaxing on a calm day to bob about in the water. Staring into nothing. A great way to let your thoughts and mind calm a little bit.
Just even from a mindfulness point of view, I highly recommend it.
Healing at home
I appreciate not everyone has the ability to pop off to the seaside when the mood takes them. But there are ways you can do it at home.
A salt water bath is the obvious idea. Add some salt – yes, even just normal table salt – to your bathwater and soak a while. If a bath is beyond you, try a foot bath.
I find it a wonderful way to ground myself as well as just feeling good.
If you live in a hot climate, use lukewarm water. If you’re feeling cold, use warmer or hot water. Just remember, the hotter the water, the more salt you can dissolve.
You can of course add in all sorts of other things as well: seaweed is pretty easily available in Ireland these days, I’m not sure about elsewhere. If you’re trying to clear out sinuses, I find Vick’s extremely good. Science says the menthol only tricks your brain into believing your sinuses are clear, but frankly, I feel better after using it and that’s good enough for me. So, a dob of Vick’s and some salt in some boiling water, with a towel over your head helps immensely.
Be careful and you do you
As always – you can take the healing advice with a pinch of salt. I am only a random person on the internet and am filling you in on my family’s habits. These may or may not work for you. I know there are people with skin conditions who find sea water inflames the condition and doesn’t help at all. Dipping yourself in salt water with an open wound stings like hell. It might not be your cup of tea.
That’s ok, you do you.
But if you’re feeling stressed, out of sorts, miserable, up in a heap and can get to the sea… just give it a go. If nothing else, in Ireland at least, there’s usually a sea breeze to clear out the cobwebs!!
And if all else fails, a bit of seawater in a sealed jar for your altar won’t hurt!
As some of you may be aware, my group coaching program is starting again at the end of July (so there’s still time to join up if you want to!) And while Brigid’s Path is the name I gave the framework I developed and use, people have been asking why I chose the word “collective” to describe the group. Well, now the time has come to dive a bit deeper into my thinking.
Meaning of collective
Usually at this point, I’d hit dictionary.com and give ye a meaning from there. But right now – that doesn’t really work. There are elements of the word “collective” that I want to parse out a bit given the focus of this group.
a group of people acting as one
a cooperative enterprise which we commonly call a collective effort
a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest
shared by or involving every member of a group of people
It’s the group element that most stands out to me here. But also elements of cooperation. Working together. Striving together towards a common goal as part of a true collective.
A collaborative group working together = collective
It’s the idea that the enterprise is a group effort. That the people within the group support each other and help each other along the way. This doesn’t mean every decision is a collective decision – the times we can hold sessions are limited by time differences and availability.
Why though?
As humans, our greatest achievements are as a collective. Seriously – think of all the major achievements in human history – the vast majority weren’t single, stand alone efforts. Being blunt about it, most of us humans just aren’t cut out to be singles. We belong in groups.
And yes, I know – that’s rich coming from me! I stand by my need for alone time, but I also know the importance of the group in any difficult endeavour.
mammoth hunts
growing food
building anything bigger than a shack
developing supports for those less able
collective bargaining/ unions
United Nations
European Union
Ben and Jerry’s
Yeah, I know – possibly ice cream doesn’t belong on that list, but it does bring happiness to millions. And they’re good about ethics as well. So feck it.
From the dawn of time – or at least since humans climbed out of the primordial goo (yes, I know there was a bit of development in between!) – collaborative collectives work better. For most of us.
OK fine, but inner work is personal
Absolutely correct. Inner work is nearly always personal. But there are also a lot of trends and commonalities and it’s so much nicer to have someone walking the path alongside you. OK, it won’t be exactly the same path. I can pretty much guarantee that!
But it will be a similar one. Because we all go through the same shit when trying to grow. There’s pain. And there’s realisation. There’s growth. There’s all sorts of stuff, all made easier with the support of a collective.
If nothing else, having other people around you while you’re going through these exercises and the inner work, means there are people around you for support. For understanding. For even the vaguest comprehension of the types of insights you’re gaining. The laughter, the tears, the hugs, the shoulders… it’s all there.
Y’see, everyone walks their own path. Definitely. But walking Brigid’s Path is about more than your path. It’s about the collective path as well. If you look at the core tenets of pretty much any of the modern religions in the world, they look at the collective experience.
Yes, even Christianity. Despite what various fundamentalist sects are trying to claim. Please read the below post on Jesus.
A post stolen from Facebook or X/Twitter. But I got it from Facebook.
And no – not everyone walking Brigid’s Path is or ever was Christian. It’s not a requirement at all. It’s just that a lot of the people I work with come from Christian backgrounds.
And it’s easy after a few centuries, or millennia, of patriarchal behaviour to forget the basics.
High control religion, again??
Yes, high control religion again.
The vast majority of those who chose to walk Brigid’s Path are coming from high control religions. And that doesn’t always mean a minority cult. That can mean mainstream religions.
It takes time to recover from these. I’ve described before what I consider to be a high control religion. I won’t repeat that list here, but I will say this: many of us have grown up in high control environments. Too many of us carry scars from that childhood.
This isn’t attacking anyone’s parents or upbringing. Most parents did and do the best they can with the knowledge and resources they had/have. But that also doesn’t mean we can’t unpack what we learned and suffered. And it’s a lonely road to walk on your own.
Something high control religion gets right is the comfort of the group, of the collective. The comfort in other people experiencing similar things to those you are experiencing. It’s enticing, seductive in ways we don’t even realise.
Yes, even those of us who are inherently introverted. Introverted doesn’t mean never needing company. It just means needing a different sort of company.
So… collective
Yes, a collective. A collective for me is a group of people working together on similar projects or towards a similar goal. It’s not a team in the sense that it breaks up after said goal is reached. The understanding that the “goal” might be changeable, or as different awarenesses are reached, might be completed different to that when we started together is key.
This isn’t failure. The whole aim here is to help people understand key aspects about themselves. To develop a path for themselves that is supportive and helpful, not contained and controlled.
There might be elements of control, but it’s self control, not control imposed from outside. It’s an agreement with self, in particular with the inner self. The bit that maintains the core of who we are. And the collective is as safe a space as I can make it to explore these issues and let each person decide for herself what’s right for her.
And it’s about taking action and being held to account for taking that action. There’s power in that as well. A collective action is only as strong as each individual member…
As I type this, there is still one place open on the collective for this year. Click on the link to find out more.
I was planning a post on colonisation this week to follow on from last week’s one on the Great Famine. But then a conversation at the weekend got me thinking about society instead. And our place within it.
What are our duties to society, as members of that group?
Now, I’m using society here as others would use “culture”, “land”, “people”, “tuath”. I mean the people we live with, the laws we (mostly) abide by, that sort of thing. What do we owe our communities? Our families? Ourselves?
People make up society
Let’s define what we mean by society
As you were reading that list of things above you were probably thinking all these are alternatives to society, but don’t really tell me what the damn thing actually is, Orlagh. So cough up!
the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community.
I mean, of course there are other meanings. It can also mean a group of people coming together because of a specific shared interest, or High Society, where we have defined a subgroup of people within a broader context.
But really, we use society when we’re talking about the people in an area. Sometimes as large as a whole continent, sometimes as small as a single street. It doesn’t really matter.
It’s the people that make up the group. And how those people behave make up the social norms for that group. So, as we go through the rest of this – and I’ll give you the context in the next section – remember, we’re talking about people. Sure, we’re going to mention organisations, groups, individuals, officials, all sorts. But they’re all people at their hearts.
(OK most of them are people – I have my doubts about some!)
The context
I was talking to a friend at the weekend about the experiences of women during investigations into sexual assaults (SA) and rape. And to start with, he was very much of the opinion that it was a woman’s duty to society report the rape and go through the investigation. Now, I vehemently disagree with this, but being the lovely person I am (and he’s a good person really, just hadn’t thought about the consequences of his line of thought) I kept on speaking with him on the topic.
I know – I’m a saint! (<– sarcasm)
We spoke about some of my experiences with various forms of SA. And how I didn’t report the vast majority of them and why. I explained how women have used “gossip” for generations to warn others of violence or misbehaviour, and why they couldn’t come public about any of it. I spoke of the many, many ways various religions and state organisations have made it so women are not safe to come forward about these things publicly.
But, he replied – that’s not modern Ireland. We’re different. Our society is different. We treat women better.
Are we though?
The following is a series of links to the SA and rape cases I remember in the last decade or so. Please don’t click the links if you’re not able to:
Let’s be clear – I could list at least one case from pretty much every county in Ireland. And the treatment of people is improving slightly, but it’s not there yet.
Women are equal in society, but their behaviour is more on trial than an accused rapist in these cases.
He changed his mind
I turned it around then and said I hope his daughters would never face that decision. That got him thinking. He started thinking of the individual women in the case then as people not just victims. He started thinking of the effect on his family, his daughters.
Now to be clear – this man is fairly well educated in these matters. He’s a feminist and walks the walk most of the time. But he has a few blind spots and this was one of them. We talked through what it means to be part of an investigation for SA or rape. We talked about the “rape kit“, re-traumatisation of victims – even with the best of intentions!
OK, we talked through a lot.
Or at least agreed to think about a woman’s “duty” to society in these cases. Because while I agree it’s ideal if a woman can report a SA and/or rape, there is a huge physical and mental toll to doing so.
Which brings me back to the original thought that prompted this post.
What do we owe the society in which we live?
Do we owe it our mental health?
Our privacy?
Our sexual history?
Careers?
Families?
Children?
Relationships?
Where do we draw the line?
What aboutery in our society
The worst part about this is that, it’s such a personal decision for everyone. Gisèle Pelicot took a very brave decision to waive her right to privacy to aid in the prosecution’s case (as far as I understand it. I may be wrong with regard to her reasons mind!) And then she had to go back to court to prove that while she had waived her right to privacy in that one regard, she had not waived it in general.
Now, Mme Pelicot is a class act in general. Her award from the second case has been donated to two charities, helping women. She is some woman, to say the least!
But hers was a relatively “straightforward” place. She was drugged and sold and raped without her knowledge.
What about the woman who has had a glass of wine?
Or who dressed in a way some might find sexy?
Or who – God forbid! – wore a lacy thong?
The whataboutery in our society when it comes to this sort of thing is horrendous. And when reporting crimes of this nature, we have to take into account the effect it will have on ourselves, our families and our society.
So what do we owe our society?
I don’t think we owe our society our privacy, our mental health, our history. What other crime demands so much exposure from the victim?
I said on Saturday I would never suggest to a woman to go to the Guards post-SA. And I defended my position. Because it can be immensely re-traumatising. It’s not something anyone should be forced into, or even have to be talked into. It should be something a victim arrives at by themselves.
I feel very strongly about this.
Now, I write and teach about Brig Ambue – the one who looks after the weak and helpless and less fortunate – literally the cowless. And looking through as many of the texts as I can stomach, the Brehon laws were big on reparative justice. Not confinement – that was for hostages, and even then… not always.
So, what do you think Brigid – in any of her guises – would say about the way we treat victims in this way? To be clear – the Brehon Laws were not brilliant in cases of SA with get-out-of-jail cards for if a woman was in a pub without her husband, or was in a populated place and didn’t call out…
Not perfect. But was it any better than what we force victims to do?
Brigid as a bridge gives me the heebie-jeebies. Seriously – it’s usually based around some horrendous fake etymology surrounding the traditional Anglicisation of the Irish Bríd to the English Bridget. People take off the “t” and go straight to “bridge”.
It’s not the case. As we know, Brigid comes from Brig, which is linked to being exalted, high, that sort of thing. Nothing to do with bridges at all.
Decorative bridge type structure from Brigid’s Well in Kildare
Bridges are liminal spaces though
OK, even I have to admit that Brigid has a relationship with liminality. And bridges are liminal spaces. They hover between land, sea and sky – much like Brigid herself.
So it makes sense that bridges can be linked to Brigid – of course it does. Bridges connect us. They span the world. In Norse mythology (not Irish, but still), the Bifröst bridge spans Midgard (earth) and Asgard (land of the gods). Now I can already hear practitioners of that spirituality lamenting that I’m over simplifying and it’s not that straightforward. I’ve no doubt they’re correct. I’m not a devotee of that spiritual path. Brigid keeps me busy enough, thanks all the same.
But I suppose my point here is that bridges are recognised as liminal and magical spaces. Across multiple worldviews. They’re magical in and of themselves – allowing us to cross water and depths without injury or getting wet. Those of us familiar with the various bridges across the Liffey in Dublin are particularly grateful for this, since that water isn’t healthy for anything as far as I can see.
Bridges connect disparate worlds and places, joining the un-joinable. Traversing the depths and engaging with the deep.
Brigid as bridge
And we know that Brigid has traversed the depths as well. As the Irish left these shores, they took her with them. She served as a bridge for those left behind and those gone abroad. For many years, “biddy” was a term used in the US for “Irish female domestic servant” and even until the 80’s and 90’s was a recognised diminutive of the Irish name Bridget. Just check out Glenroe.
Brigid essentially ignored the apparent divides between Christianity and paganism in Ireland and kept supporting her people. As bridges do – they don’t usually determine who and what can cross them other than design features. And even then… many old bridges were massively over-engineered for what they were holding.
Much like Brigid.
She doesn’t have the glamorous jobs in the TDD. She doesn’t really have a frontline job at all. Even in Caith Maigh Tuired, she is the representative of the land for Bres to marry, and is Ruadhán’s mother. Her power, her works, her deeds are mostly lost to us.
But we see fragments of that power left for us. In Cormac’s Glossary, her protection of poets was great. She commanded the royalty of ox, boar and rams. She appears as the (potential) mother of the three gods of skill (or the three sons of Tuireann, whichever way you read it).
Glamorous doings
Brigid and bridges have that in common – neither are particularly glamorous. And I mean that in sincerity. They operate in the background, half the time we don’t even notice they are there. But they serve functions without which we’d be lost.
Why is this coming to me today?
Well, I’ve been reading about the so-called LA riots over the last few days. (Listen, I was alive during the ’92 riots in LA. Those folks know how to riot. And the pictures I’m seeing right now aren’t in the same league at all. Protesting doesn’t automatically equal rioting…)
And I’ve been seeing a lot of advice about how to manage yourself on a protest and how to engage with the protestors online. Through some really interesting feeds. And there’s a few things that I’ve said before, but that bear repeating:
If you’re not physically able, these protests probably aren’t for you. That doesn’t mean you can’t help. But you don’t have to be in the frontlines.
Be sensible about your abilities and bandwidth. If everyone is on the frontlines, then no one is about to bail people out afterwards.
Protestors need safe routes for escape, potentially shelter from – apparently the National Guard???
Food and water are great. So are toilets. Be practical people!
And you know – there are loads of other bits of advice out there as well. If you can do nothing else – spread the stories. People see a mass of people on telly chanting slogans at the police (and dear gods above, when did the LAPD turn into the voice of reason here???) they think riot.
But what about Mary who travelled from San Diego because her cousin is a Latino in LA and she wanted to be sure he was safe? Or John, who lives in LA and sees the ICE crowd as the Gestapo of modern US, and wants to oppose the takeover of his government/constitution.
People respond to stories. People respond to people. That’s why person-interest stories do so well in the modern media.
Yes, movements need leaders, and visibility, and coverage. But they also need the links between communities and people to bring the movement alive.
So, ok… Brigid as a bridge
I give in that Brigid can be related to bridges. And I know from the stats I see on here a huge amount of my audience is US based. Or at least using US internet IDs. So here’s my challenge.
How are you going to be a bridge then? How are you going to support your communities, link your communities, serve as a transit for those who need to know each other and work together?
What are you doing to bring people together?
What are you doing to traverse the depths of misunderstanding and find the overlap between people and communities to make the overarching community better?
Are you willing to do the dirty work, the hard work, the hidden work?
“Good morning, Orlagh, you look tired, is everything alright?” It’s a bit disturbing how often my boss greets me with this phrase – or a variation thereof. And honestly, he’s right. I am tired. Mentally, physically, emotionally – I’m exhausted. And that’s ok.
I searched for “Why am I tired all the time?” or “what causes tiredness?” on Google. The sheer number of results is astounding.
A woman with a looking tired, sitting on a toilet, leaning over a sink
Why are we so tired?
I know why I’m feeling this way. And, if you think about it, so do you. Whether you’re focused on working through your shadows, or keeping up with a myriad of family activities, or your professional life is being tossed from pillar to post, or you have an illness – either chronic or acute… well it’s not wonder you feel this way.
And that’s before we get into all of this!! {gestures wildly at the world in general} Keeping up with the news along is adding to our already heavy “tired” load.
In the modern world we have access to all sorts of information at all times at our disposal. And while most of the time, I see this as a good thing, when I see so many people worrying about tiredness, I start to question things a bit.
Expectations in modern life keep growing. We think we must do far more than our ancestors had, just in basic expectations. Especially as women. The day job, the childcare and rearing, the marriage stuff, the housework… Now, this isn’t to say that women following a more traditional role, such as a housewife or stay-at-home mother aren’t stressed and tired as well. Most certainly not. Even that work load is hefty!
My point is that no matter what we’re doing, we’re living to higher standards than ever before. It’s taking a toll as we find ourselves utterly tired. How many of us are cutting short of sleep to keep up with what are now considered basics?
Who is skimping on leisure time, rest time, because there’s always one more job to do?
Technology
If you think back to the ads that were prevalent as electricity and new technology came into the home, they all emphasised how much time this was going to free up. It didn’t. What happened was, that we started expecting our homes to be cleaner, to have more clothes, food became a nutritional battleground…
Add in how many of us are so generously gifted a smartphone at work – allowing us to keep up to date with our emails and teams messages even during our off hours. Do we ever switch off?
And if it’s not a smartphone you have at work, you almost certainly have one of your own. And then the internet, with all it’s wonderful news, information, notifications…
We’re experiencing information overload.
And the technology that is meant to help us is at least partially causing the damn problems.
So what do we do?
Well, here the thing. What follows could be posted in multiple different blogs all across the internet. The advice isn’t new or inspiring or revolutionary. Maybe except the last one.
Set aside time for technology free life. Turn off the smartphone – or at least the work phone. Turn off the telly. Take some time to get outside if at all possible.
Spend time in nature. And nature can be your back yard. It doesn’t have to be a massive hike or major holiday.
Go barefoot. OK, not advisable everywhere, but if you can at all, it will help.
Maintain good sleep hygiene. Going to bed at the same time every day and waking up at the same time every day. Not having a massive lie on at the weekend. Not staying up late scrolling through YouTube videos.
Get physically as well as mentally tired. Very often, we are mentally exhausted but our bodies are full of energy. This doesn’t lead to good outcomes. And can lead to increased stress.
Actually – look into stress management.
If all else fails – look into meditation.
I lied.
Meditation probably should be the first thing you try, if I’m honest. It has loads of benefits and help.
But the surprise add-on?
You know you’re an adult, right? (Or you should be, reading this blog – I swear far too much to be child friendly.)
And being an adult means you get to decide what your standards are.
Let’s say it again for the people in the back: you get to decide what’s important for you and what isn’t.
That means if having a clean kitchen every night isn’t important – don’t sweat it. Figure out what works for you.
Cooking a meal from scratch doesn’t appeal, but spending on pre-prepared meals or veggies or whatever works really well? Brilliant.
Spending on comfortable pyjamas is really important but t-shirts you can take or leave? Good for you.
This is why getting to know yourself is the first step in any of my coaching programs. And it’s as true in your spiritual life as your professional life as your domestic life.
You are an adult and you get to decide what is important for you in life.
Down to the brand of bread you buy. Or the route you take to work. A quick detour by a particularly nice bit of landscape helps you face the day? Go for it. No one else’s business.
Design the life you want to live.
Even if it’s low income. Even if it’s not “ideal” according to general societal standards. It doesn’t matter.
Your life is yours to live and how you choose to live it is up to you.
We all have choices. Let’s make the most of yours!
