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    Stolen Child ( Day 30 )

    The Challenge for Day 30 Today’s challenge is to write about “Innocence”. Maybe even share stories of the younger, more innocent you. My post titled  Memories, Poems & Fairy Ribbons pretty much covered that topic, so I thought it might be nice to try a different angle.  I’ve decided to go with one of my best-loved poets, William Butler Yeats and his poem “The Stolen Child”.   The Stolen Child “Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.” ― William Butler Yeats   Here, Yeats is writing about lost innocence. The…

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    Storytelling ( Day 29 )

    The Challenge for Day 29 The challenge for today is “Write about anything you know well that you don’t have to research.” A free reign, I like that idea. The topic I’ve chosen is storytelling because it’s something I’m passionate about for many different reasons.   Storytelling Storytelling has always been part of human culture. I like to imagine a group of early cave dwellers, sitting around a crackling fire, sharing stories with others. Maybe a small family group, the grandmother passing on stories of their ancestors and how they came to live in that particular place. The father recounting the day he landed his biggest fish ever and how he…

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    Compassion ( Day 20 )

    The Challenge for Day 20 Today’s challenge is to write on the theme of Justice and what changes you would like to see in the world. I’m going to focus on Compassion because I think it is the best way forward for saving the planet. Read on and let me explain why…   Compassion What does it mean to have compassion? Is it the same thing as empathy? Empathy means feeling the emotions of others, but sometimes it can be over-powering, even leading us to despair. Just think how often you have to turn off the TV because you can’t take any more of those awful scenes. The children going…

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    Drama: Knockmeaden( Day 19 )

    The Challenge for Day 19 Today’s challenge is to “Write in someone else’s Voice.” I’ve just recently been reading some of the works of Martin McDonough, author of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, so I thought this might make for an interesting challenge. My first attempt at Drama. Apologies in advance for the language, but these characters are a bit naughty 🙂   Drama: Knockmeaden Here are a few, brief details of the play. I’ll probably add more when I get time! Background: This Drama is set in Knockmeaden, a rural village located about three kilometers from Westport.  It revolves around the relationship between two brothers, Micky and Tommy and their…

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    Traditional Irish Food ( Day 14 )

    The Challenge for Day 14 Today’s challenge is to “Write about Food”, so I thought it might be nice to combine this prompt with my Ireland theme and write about traditional Irish food.   History of Traditional Irish Food As I said in Ireland Calling, we Irish love our food just as much as the Guinness. Real traditional Irish dishes are made from cheap, locally sourced food and tend to be quite simple. That’s linked to our history, most people lived on small land holdings and were dependant on these to survive. They supplemented their diet by foraging for things like berries, mushrooms and shellfish. Under British control and with the arrival…

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    Seeking Leprechauns ( Day 12 )

    The Challenge for Day 12 Today’s challenge from Jeff Goins is to “Rewrite history, imagine an alternate reality, or just plain lie.” Okay, here is my alter ego 🙂 …Seeking Leprechauns   Seeking Leprechauns My goodness! An award for one of my books! It’s hard to believe, but this is my new reality and I feel quite overwhelmed. The accolade isn’t even for my first published work,  Speed Dating Secrets, a book about love in the modern age. Amazingly, it’s for my far more obscure literary piece, Seeking Leprechauns. This demonstrates how important it is to follow your gut instincts in these matters. I’m not at all a desperate type, but I did spend…

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    Ireland Calling ( Day 11 )

    The Challenge for Day 11 Today’s challenge is an interesting one, it’s called “Persuade me.” As an example, Jeff suggests persuading someone to try something new. As it happens, while checking up on Twitter this morning, I came across a tweet announcing that Ireland ranked at number two in Good Countries, just behind Finland. So that gave me an idea…Why not try to persuade people of the benefits of choosing Ireland as a holiday destination? Obviously, as I live in Ireland, I’m already a believer. Now it’s just a matter of convincing you!   Ireland Calling Well, what is so special about Ireland? The answer lies in its’ uniqueness. A small island, located…

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    Vodka, Sunscreen and Goat Stew ( Day 9 )

      The Challenge for Day 9 Interesting email from Jeff Goins today, where he asks us to ” Teach something.” Well, after my years of teaching primary school children, I’ve learned that sometimes it can be fun to go a bit left of field. So, with that in mind, here’s my advice on getting the best out of a foreign holiday trip… It’s satire, But I’m Irish so I hope I can get away with it 🙂   Vodka, Sunscreen, and Goat Stew   ” An Irishman’s Guide to Travelling Abroad”     Don’t waste time on Research Who wants to waste hours trawling through the internet? Or even worse, stuck…

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    Hope ( Day 7 )

    The Challenge for Day 7 The challenge for Day 7 was to write a letter to your younger self. I found this quite difficult. Too many competing emotions, I think. The poems of Emily Dickenson have always inspired me and never more so than today. Here is the first verse of ” Hope”   “Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –   Hope   Dear Bernie, You are probably wondering who is writing to you out of the blue like this? Well, let’s say a little bird told me…

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    Hitting the Ceiling Light ( Day 6 )

    The Challenge for Day 6 ” Tell Another Person’s Story” The challenge from Jeff Goins today is to tell a story from someone else’s point of view, perhaps even a friend.  I reached back into my past and this is what I came up with. Part fiction, part memoir, but told from a friend’s point of view. Hitting the Ceiling Light… Hitting the Ceiling Light “Look at the pair of ye.” Miss Hennessey has me and Annie Smith standing out in front of the class.  Rows of wooden desks in front of us and her sitting behind us. I can’t even see her face, but her voice makes me jump.…