Some oomph along the way!
Many women will agree, and perhaps a few men also, that great shoes have a way of lifting your mood. My left foot, in fact, stopped yelping shortly after I was told that Dr Martens boots would substantially improve my old and new Achilles tendon injuries as well as my gait if I added a special insole in it. Well… Who can deny, indeed, just how the esteemed Dr Martens keeps on caring for an army of feet, as well as adding a whole lot of pizzazz to anyone with an alternative dress style. It meant adieu to Clarks, as even Clarks shoes could have not have saved the wretched foot if it wanted to. My feet are now able to release a good amount of dopamine, norepinephrine, oxytocin and…
Eyes of sorrow
"I am utterly afraid of losing my eyesight completely. The pleasure I assign to them is felt every minute of every day. Reading a book, watching the sun set behind the mountains, seeing a flower open during the day, catching those few rays of sunshine in grey clouds… I am often in awe of the images my eyes capture and send to my brain. These images tease and taunt, are overjoyed or full of sorrow, want more or have enough."
#strongerthanms with MS Ireland
“So, how’s the book,” friends often ask me. “Oh, it’s getting there,” I joke. “I’ve finished one page, the one with the title and my name!” I don’t lack the ambition to keep on writing, but I have an overabundance of low energy levels, so I must ask people to use their patience… patiently when dealing with me. Like all cowards, the illness I write about lurks in the dark within my central nervous system, and it sometimes rises to the surface in unflattering ways. My body does a good job in concealing it for now, but every so often I worry about it rising to the surface and staying there… permanently.
World MS Day 2015 Around the World
For the second year in a row, ‘Access‘ is the main topic of World MS Day. Access means a lot of things, so do volunteer in if you want to help others achieve everyday issues. Don’t forget to tag your events with #strongerthanMS and @WorldMSDay. Access Our campaign theme for 2015 is access: access to diagnosis, treatment and support; access to buildings, travel and leisure facilities; and access to education, training and employment. What does access mean? When we talk about equality of access for people with MS we mean access to a social, political and economic life. Equality of access doesn’t just mean physical access to buildings, but access to the same tools, services and facilities that people who do not have MS enjoy. Why access? The barriers…
The love revolution
Vox populi: Turnout: 1,949,725 Yes: 1,201,607 No: 734,300 62.1% vs 37.9% Today, Ireland turned a corner by becoming the first country in the world to approve gay marriage by popular vote. A corner a lot of people have been struggling with for decades. A fear that many were afraid of voicing, afraid of a Catholic Church still instilling that famous Irish guilt in many. Religion has always been a tough subject in Ireland as it continuously interfered in issues it had no clue about at all. Contraception was illegal until 1980, and it was illegal for single people to buy a condom until 1992. There was a constitutional ban on divorce until 1995 (and can still take +5 years to be finalised), and homosexuality was a criminal offense until the 1990s. While…
Hope cures old wounds
“The illness is mine, but the tragedy theirs,” when asked how my family feels about my condition. When I entered the MS academy, I read the small print and knew it wouldn’t be a 365-day holiday. However, I tolerate MS. There’s no resentment or blame, no more heartache, guilt or doubt. I find solace in seeing science produce more and better research results and medication. Clinical trials are moving forward at a pace that will eventually lead to an easier life with an illness that is as fickle as MS."
Kick-Ass Ireland
Some days I sit still and think about how my life became a dream full-circle. There’s William Butler Yeats, James Joyce and Brendan Behan. Seamus Heaney, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Beckett and George Bernard Shaw. The Lake Isle of Innisfree, Land of Heart’s Desire and Yeats’s grave. Dubliners, Ulysses and Bloomsday. The mountains, lakes, Dublin, Sligo and the Shannon. Brú na Boinne, Corcaigh, Beara, Daingean Uí Chúis, Zú Bhaile Átha Cliath, craic agus ceol. Brian Ború, Michael Collins, Theobald Wolfe Tone and Daniel O’Connell. Seven hundred years of cruelty, yet still able to endure hard times. Writers, dancers, taps, tin whistles and uilleann pipes. Books, almighty libraries and small bookshops selling secrets. Friendships gained, lost and renewed. New alliances forged in foothills and strengthened on mountain tops. “You, the Irish” becoming “Us…