Photos..and ruminatons...

Here's Oisin doing the diablos - he now has two tricks and thinks he'd like to start raising money busking on Royal Avenue. 

Caught the thing...!

That's Ghin drinking up his milk. He said to me, take Ghin drinking....

...and eating...

...and getting ready to eat...

My gorgeous son. 

And the other one ;-)

Marie's birthday was celebrated yesterday. 

It was lovely, although i did get into a conversation with her friend about how Derry wans need to get over it. She was horrified that i would suggest a thing. Her friend beside her said, what do you get over it? Get off their crucifix? Which didn't make things better. She was really really annoyed that i would suggest such a thing. 

I suppose i should have said, really it's all about how being victim has taken over their being almost entirely. Yes awful things were done to them, and part of that is slowly being redressed, but to hold the next generation hostage to their own suffering - and then to use the wrong that was done to them as a reason not to move forward... it is all very controversial, and i am all in favour for remembering, although its interesting some of the things that are remembered, but i am also in favour of forgetting and moving on. 

I was testing out my denial theory as well. Someone else in the party thought that denial was worse than forgetting. At with denial you have the option of changing the side you're on. With forgetting, the thing simply isn't there any longer. It's like it never happened.

Anyhow, the Japanese still have a hard time denying what they did in China. Which was my point. Look at the Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese... they had terrible things happen to them, they did not forget - but at the same time they've not allowed it to hold them back... Despite the fact that perhaps maybe, really, they could develop in a more sustainable direction, but they've gotten off their martyrdom and gotten on with life.

I attended this workshop given by Else Gottgens yesterday - it was pretty amazing and about Steiner education. As part of the study group, we are reading the first lectures he gave to the first set of teachers. They were talking about what it is that Steiner is trying to work at. What is unique in Steiner education. And it looked like it boiled down to a couple of things: 

Firstly, the human metamorphosies - it grows from the physical (the body), to the etheric (the body that sustains life), the astral (the body where our emotions reside) and finally the ego (the body which incarnates into this life and has a connection to the 'universal spirit'.) In Steiner education we work on the four bodies at different times, ensuring that at each stage we are nurturing the body that we should be.

Secondly, in order of the bodies to function properly, to mesh in harmony with each other so that the human being can achieve its destiny (the reason for its incarnation) to the fullest of its ability, we need to ensure that we are breathing properly and sleeping properly. I was stunning at this - it was so simple and so obvious and yet so utterly missed. If we are not doing either properly, all the wealth, the material comforts, the achievements, the people we are surrounded with might as well not exist. If we are not within ourselves, fully possessed of ourselves, then we are not at ease... one can live on very little and yet, if we are breathing and sleeping well, we are living like kings.

What an incredible day this is. I shall spend it cleaning. I sort of like that now - just me, alone, cleaning. That's the other thing at the party - this friend who found the whole victimhood things objectionable said that cleaning was overrated. I said, i agree that we don't need to have very clean houses and i don't, but i do think that  certain degree of cleanliness if necessary in order for us to maintain a degree of self-respect.

Call me Martha, i don't mind ;-)