A little while or a long while.

A permanent fixture

A filler. In the context of Primary Teaching, a filler is defined as some menial task assigned to children to keep them quiet for a few minutes until you have time to deal with them. There probably isn't any massively beneficial educational aspect to it but it serves a purpose. In quite a different context- the context of relationships, a filler can also be described as a person with whom you spend time during the period where it is not possible to have the person you would rather be with. Again, this filler has very little actual value for you in any kind of an emotional or long-term sense, but once again, they serve a purpose. It may not always be black and white however in the human filler world. Unfortunately people do not always advertise the fact that it is indeed no more than a filler they're looking for and the unassuming victim may get a nasty shock when they realise what they have become. There are times though when there is a choice. In the grand scheme of things,who wants to be a filler? Instead of being a photocopied, uninspiring, chunky-outlined page from a colouring book, I'd much rather be a blank piece of paper with the potential to be adorned and explored and treasured and even possibly stuck up on the wall and kept and admired for a long time.*Tweet

Your place in the world.

The world below me

 I've lived in lots of cities: Kilkenny, Dublin, Limerick, and now Cork. I'm not a city girl. I need space and expanses and air and greenery and beauty in order to happily survive. I always have 'home' to retreat to with the fields and trees and birds and animals and peace, but sometimes my cities lie too far away from home to be accessible whenever I need it. In whichever city I base myself, I need to find my closest escapes; places I can go to when I need to breathe and remove myself from traffic and buildings and crowds and commercialism. Consequently, in my migration around the country, I've come across some very beautiful places that bring me back to being me and make me smile and feel at peace.

 In Cork now, I live at the very top of Patrick's Hill, an incredibly steep hill about 7 minutes walk from the very centre of things. I don't think you can get much higher in the city and my room occupies its own third floor. I'm not in the city, I'm over the city and it's so beautiful to watch. Four distinctly different churches are set into a lower world of terraced houses in all sorts of colours and larger commercial builds, some with shining glass panels. There's no pattern in their position, they lie at all sorts of angles to each other, occasionally separated by little plantations of trees. Beyond the city I can see hills and fields and the most beautiful expanse of blue sky.  I have a real garden with grass and garden furniture and plants and a pretty stone wall. Over the wall is a big park where little dogs and big dogs take full advantage of not having to watch out for traffic. As I write with the window open, there's a gentle hum of traffic interspersed by church bells every now and then and the delicious sweet smell of what I presume is a brewery, is wafting around me with the incoming breeze. I've known this view for less than 24 hours but I think it's one that will intrigue me in its constant changing. I have the convenience of city closeness but a delicious feeling of being removed from it too.

I have escape routes planned for when I need them. Half an hour in the car brings me to incredible coastal places and mountains and all the wilderness I could want but I think this city will do me very nicely.*

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One thing leads to another.

If you're gona make a journey, do it in style.

I thought almost constantly about ‘transition’ for 6 months; what it was, what it meant and how its concept could clearly be expressed in a 3D form. It was the basis for my Degree Show collection. In the end my pieces were a collection which highlighted the importance of focusing on the present moment. They acknowledged the past and future but embraced the beauty of now and living in the moment as so much of what was and what will be is beyond our control. And so, after those 6 months, I had the whole thing sussed. Transition is a natural thing in life so don’t stress or worry about it, just go with it, focus on what’s happening right now and love life. Well, that’s all very well until you suddenly find yourself in the very depths of transition- homeless, jobless and having committed to a college course almost 3 hours drive away from your parents’ house which is the only real place of refuge you have at the moment. “It’ll all work out”. “Something will come up”. So I’m told, and absolutely, one has to keep the faith. I have no doubt that the studying I’m doing is exactly what I should be doing but having said this, it makes it so difficult to see why everything else isn’t falling to place around it. At the end of the day, I’m a happy and healthy young one with plenty of amazing friends and family and so I’ve nothing severe to be fretting about. My problem is, I need to banish that word ‘if’ from my mind. It’s pointless. I can only do what I can do and a massive lump of patience and faith is what I need to summon. I’ve never been one to sit still. Bored and lazy are not words in my vocabulary. I’m not wasting precious life time during my transition and I think that’s all that matters. Just gotta keep putting the love out there and remember that life always has ups and downs…embrace them for what they are. Anyway, life would be so boring if we just hopped from one thing and place to another..we’d miss the eager anticipation of the unknown and all the excitement of the journey.*Tweet