Sunday 23 February 2014

Mindful Writing 32 - 23rd February

yellows and purple
heads peeking
slyly out;
from beneath the shade of the
hill, below the college.
Is it safe to
come out,
yet?

Picture credit: Charmaine 725

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Mindful writing is the art of paying attention - being fully present in a moment and then describing it


Friday 21 February 2014

Drumroll, please! Leading our parade...

The Pentacle Drummers in action

 Excellent news!  We have secured the services of the wonderful Pentacle Drummers. They will lead our St Patrick's day parade, leaving from Smiths Square in Gillingham high street on Sunday, 16th March at 12 noon.

Will you join in our parade?
Come and enjoy the feel-good factor as Medway celebrates its first St Patrick's Day Parade! There will be music, dancing, hurlers, leaping leprechauns and more...

When the parade finishes, we will be addressed by the Mayor, Councillor Josie Iles. And after the speech, there will be a showcase of Irish culture at the St Marys social club, Belmont Road, Gillingham. Entry to the showcase will be by ticket only, tickets to be purchased direct from the club.


For more information about the parade see http://www.stpatricksdaymedway.org.uk/
Twitter birds follow us @paradeagogo
Or find us lurking on facebook


Saturday 15 February 2014

Why the parade? (St Patrick's day parade)

So we are coming up to 4 weeks before the St Patrick's parade in Medway, and I have started to think more closely about why I am doing this. What exactly, do I hope to achieve? A part of this is finding and celebrating an Irish identity beyond the stereotype. There are smart Irish people (Louis Brennan), no we are not all drunks, there is a beautiful and ancient language and a culture to celebrate too. 

Image credit: J Durham
(From http://www.morguefile.com/)

It has dominated my life outside of work for the last year, and I have lost count of the other activities that have by necessity had to be dropped or let slide. For next month or so, there will be nothing else.

Don't get me wrong, this has been an excellent opportunity to learn, to grow and to develop. The friends I have made along the way, the way that my relationships with my friends has shifted and changed has all been a part of it. When the parade happens, it will be an additional pleasure, and a tactile demonstration of the goodwill and raised awareness we are hoping to achieve. Both for the Irish community in Medway and for the St Mary's social club.

So what is it that we want to do? Firstly, to raise awareness about the Irish community in Medway. There has been no definitive history written about them, but they have been active in working in the area notably in construction and at the hospital. There are about 1% Irish born in the local area, but estimates for those of Irish descent leap up to 10%. Quite a big demographic, don't you think? The St Mary's social club was formed back in 1973, but still many people don't know about it. Part of what we are doing is to raise awareness about forgotten Irish people of note, including the genius Louis Brennan. My personal interest in him goes beyond his Irish identity, as he is from the same county my family are from.

The second of course is to have a good time! Of all the festivals and parades I've attended, the one that many people seem to enjoy the most is the St Patrick's day parade. It's an inclusive and friendly occasion. Unfortunately, in recent years there are a number of places where the connection to some breweries has taken over the event. I like a pint as much as the next person, but why is it that the likes of Guinness (and other breweries and companies) have been able to colonise the day? Is is because of their sponsorship, or because it ties into ideas about what it means, what other people think it means, to be Irish? How much has the stereotype of the drunken Irish played into that?

And while we're asking questions, I ask myself these while I am inviting groups to take part in our parade. By including some groups and not others, what does it say about being Irish in Medway and the Irish identity? What does it mean to be Irish, second generation Irish in England? Am I celebrating an Irish identity, or creating it? Does it have to be a choice, can't identity be shaped and change over time as well?

Sunday 9 February 2014

The year of the Horse

Happy new year!

So now we are entering the year of the horse, quite an important animal for many cultures

Enter the Dragon into Chatham high street
Image credit: SM Jenkin


The new year parade in Chatham high street was very well attended, and there was quite a lot of noise, movement and energy from the parade.

This is something that I associate with the horse. Energy, power, the need to explore and travel. This can be on an internal/mental/spiritual as well as an external/physical journey. Quite an interesting image for someone to work with, especially at the beginning of Spring.

The question is, what do you want to do with your year? Are you sure of where you are going?

For me, my direction is leading to the St Patrick's parade. It is, and has been an all consuming passion for me over the last year. The Chinese new year has provided the template for our event, so I'm very conscious of what I can learn from attending. I am also very aware that it's coming up to four weeks before our own parade. Where has the time gone?

Thursday 6 February 2014

Louis Brennan - Headstone unveiling March 11th 2014


You are cordially invited to the Unveiling of Headstone at the grave of Louis Brennan, Inventor Extraordinaire by Irish Prime Minister- An Taoiseach Mr Enda Kenny T.D & Cllr Noreen Heston, Mayor of Castlebar, County Mayo

The unveiling will take place in St Mary’s Cemetery, Harrow Road, London NW 10 5NY
On Tuesday March 11th at 11.30a.m.


This event will include unveiling of plaque commemoration the work of Louis Brennan at Church, St Mary’s Cemetery and a Memorial service conducted by Mgr. Canon Thomas Egan the Chief Administrator, St Mary’s Cemetery.


A reception will be held afterwards at Flannery’s Bar Wembley High Road at 2p.m. (nearest tube/train Wembley Central.) R.S.V.P by March 4thb 2014 to Email: brianhoban78@eircom.net

Louis Brennan was born in 1852 in Castlebar, Mayo, Ireland. He died in Switzerland in 1932. After spending some time in Australia, Louis spent a lot of his time in Gillingham, living in Woodlands while his factory was near the Strand.

Please click on the image to enlarge it


Monday 3 February 2014

Final Mindful Writing 31 - Grandparents

In their wedding best
they stand for the photo,
before the brown brickwork
of some wall. They are quite
dwarfed by the photo frame,
pear, peach, apple
pomegranate twined and full.
I close my eyes like my grandfather
in photographs; beneath the
dust I see my grandmother's eyes
shut, too.

My grandparents
Image credit: SM Jenkin

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This is the final part of the small stones writing challenge

The art of paying attention

Sunday 2 February 2014

Mindful Writing 30 - Burned Diaries

My mother has walked in
from her garden;
the arms of the tulips on her
cardigan writhe like
black flames against a
pink sunset. Her eyes water,
but there is no more smoke,
no soot; her hands are clean.

Image credit: Emmi P
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This is part of the small stones writing challenge

The art of paying attention

Saturday 1 February 2014

Mindful Writing 29 - lightbulb moment

A cough, the delicate staccato
of the best man at a wedding
tipping the side of a wineglass
with a fork.
The flash catches me unaware,
my hand on the
switch. It is still
dark.

Picture credit: M Connors


This is part of the small stones writing challenge

The art of paying attention