I've Been Doing Well

Hi, all. 

I hope you're well. I just wanted to let you know how I've been doing and what I've been up to. 

Not to be a curmudgeon but I've never quite enjoyed St Patrick's Day. I associate it with a lot of noise and crowds. Still, it's amazing to think of the influence and impact our little country has had around the world. 

It's a pity that the 6 Nations is over but it was great to see Ireland achieving a second straight Championship, especially after the disappointment of our early exit from the World Cup, although it wasn't a vintage 6 Nations, to be honest. 

I think that most of the teams are going through a transitional phase at the moment, but Irish rugby is as strong as it has ever been. It's great to see as I still remember the days when Ireland were lucky not to come away with a Wooden Spoon (losing all our games). 

I must say that It's nice having the longer stretch in the evenings. It's great for it still to be bright at 6 and even 7. Helps the mood, I find. When we're finished in the shop it's still bright out and there's enough time to go for a walk before heading home. 

My Life Skills course is finished. It was only for 6 weeks but it was great and I learned a lot from it. I'm looking for something else to do now. I want to continue going forward. 

The Oxfam shop where I volunteer is doing very well at the moment. We've being doing even better than our targets and getting a lot of customers and donations, which is always great. People are very generous. 

We also got a very big donation from O'Brien's Press, which you may have heard about. Over 2,500 books, which is amazing! We've been putting it out on the shelves at regular intervals. It's been going very well. 

I get a great lift from volunteering. The people I work with, the customers that donate and purchase things. The chats. All help make me feel very well. And the work is very rewarding. I like feeling that I'm making a contribution and helping people! 

Also, I know that it is important to get out and do things when I can. Not worrying about my mood or things that might happen. Just getting out and being active. It's important for both physical and mental wellbeing. 

I've also been thinking of maybe returning to college to do a course. Not sure what in but I feel that I would like to expand my horizons, do something more with myself and doing a course would help that. 

I've generally being feeling okay. Neither up nor down, really. Just getting on with things like I've said. It's funny about moods. It's better to not think about how you may be feeling and just get on with things. If you try to wait to feel better, often that feeling can be elusive. 

I was reading at home the other night and it occurred to me that I felt happy. Just sort of fell on me. I felt relaxed, calm, at peace. The feeling that I sometimes search for. It was nice. It had been a busy day and I had achieved some things so I felt that I deserved a nice break. 

It's always important to take some time to yourself, just to relax and unwind. I do a muscle relaxation video that helps ease out the tension that can accumulate over a day. You sometimes don't realise how tense your body can get when you're rushing or stressed. 

I do find that I'm happiest when I'm reading a good book or listening to music, often with my eyes closed. Depending on what you're reading, it's not always restful, lol, but I enjoy it most of all. I do find that if I'm feeling low, I find it difficult to cheer myself up. I just have to let the wave wash over me. But those times are becoming less and less. 

I have a few books open at the moment. I tend to dip in and out of them, depending on my mood and what I'm interested in. There's the usual Star Wars and rugby books but I'm also branching out. I started reading Dracula recently. I'm really enjoying it. 

It's very atmospheric and spooky. I don't read it at night! But it's very well written. I've also being reading some of Jules Verne's work. And HG Wells and Arthur Conan Doyle. Some wonderful stuff. The shop is a great source for new things to read. Depending on what others are looking at. 

I'm also reading a book called Kayfabe, which is on the origins of professional wrestling and fighting sports in general. It's fascinating. I use to be an avid fan of pro wrestling. It's very interesting to read how it started and its roots. 

It mainly tied in with carnivals and circuses, around the end of the Civil War in America, it really became popular (there's a scene in Cillian's show Damnation (which should never have ended after only one season!) which features wrestling at a carnival). 

Pro wrestling has a sordid past, and present, but I find it makes for fascinating reading to learn more about it. It crosse over with circuses and vaudeville. I was reading about Pablo Fanque. We got a book in the shop about one of his circuses. 

I know of Fanque as he is mentioned in a song by the Beatles. John Lennon wrote Being For the Benefit Of Mr Kite, after buying a circus poster in an antique shop. The song appears on the Sgt Pepper album.

Fanque was the first black person to run a circus in Britain and put on a lot of benefit circuses. His circus also appeared in the original Donnybrook Fair. 

I also like reading about the authors and their lives, learning more about them. Arthur Conan Doyle, for example, is a fascinating character. He had gone to college with Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote Treasure Island. 

Conan Doyle trained as a doctor but he had a quiet practise and took to writing. He also was an avid sportsman, playing soccer, rugby and cricket, where he played on the same team as JM Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan. 

Doyle also helped to popularise skiing in Britain. He trained as a field doctor and fought in the Boer War and World War 1. He travelled the artic as a surgeon. Amazing! 

I saw a sign in a health food shop in Rathmines which offered a list of helpful advice which can be beneficial for mental health: Smile a lot, drink plenty of water, help someone, find new music, take small breaks, move around. I hope this finds you well and thank you for reading!