Sunglasses
Hidden behind sunglasses there a millions of stories of domestic abuse. Be strong and remove yourself from the source. If you need support, reach out to the many agencies who will make you whole again.
Oor Maw
Silly things remind us of our parents, if they are gone. For me its an old tattie masher amongst many other things.
If they are still with you, keep in touch, don’t miss that call or say I’ll do it tomorrow. For many tomorrow never comes
At times in our life we will take important (maybe not known at the time) decisions which if we had taken the opposite, our life would be seen through a different lens.
A two bar fire for a family of six
Grown ups of a certain age, will remember two bar fires. Fighting your sister or brother to get near it. For long periods in the 70s, a two bar fire was all we had. Living with ice covered windows, it was 2 duvets or crocheted covers and the odd extra jaicket that kept us tepid. Resilient by default. Imagine that happening these days, but yep it still exists in this century. I’m privileged enough to have tried to work hard enough to allow me not to shout at my kids screeching ‘put the fire off’ for fear of high utility bills. Yet it happened 40 years ago in a developed country and still happens to this day. Be thankful.
Nostalgic smells of your childhood can release those happy hormones. Go on give your memory a boost. Mines were in the 70s. Yours whenever they are, might feed in to positive feelings and memories. Go on you want to.
Being Benny Rooney
This came to me shaped in a nostalgic moment from the 70s ,when I was in my early teens. I had an ever so brief period of being a Morton fan and invented fantasy football league (another time for that full story) to deal with my anxieties which grew as my parents toxic relationship imploded. I repurposed old school jotters to ‘manage’ a football team, sign players, win and lose games and focussed my mind on it during my parents violent arguments. I was always Benny Rooney in those moments when I was cutting out the noise which clearly, I witnessed through the ears and eyes of a child. If you are reading this, it helps if you are 50 plus and understand the brief success that Morton had with Benny and Andy Ritchie for a few years. Football nostalgia, rolled up in 70s issues and wrapped up in pain.
Hopefully you didn’t witness the psychological trauma that many did. It took my mother 20 plus attempts to leave my father in a period when you made your bed and were often advised to lie in it. It took me a further 25 years to realise its impact on me as a person, Reflection is healthy, so reflect.
These Drapes
We all reflect on who we are at various pivotal points in our life, be it when you get married, your 30th, have a child, get divorced, lose a loved one. At some point in your life, you will understand who you are, who helped shape you and hopefully that you are comfortable in your own clothes. Might take you 20 years, might take you a lifetime but to embrace it when you find it, is the challenge.
Campsie Hills
I penned this to a conclusion during Covid 19 in 2020. The wording had been mulling around in various forms for a few years but 2020 felt an appropriate juncture to finalise this reflective piece. Its clearly about loss for all of those that didn’t get to say goodbye. Loss is a huge risk factor for negative mental health, whether its a friend, family member, relationship or job. Find perspective, life is a journey and it provides twist and turns, good and bad.
Remember You
For those in Stewarton who wander past Magbiehill, towards Dunlop cutting left towards Low Gameshill and the Dalry Road cut back into the village. On a fine day the views towards Arran are breath-taking and the fresh air will hopefully balance your thoughts. Take it easy and immerse yourself in you. You deserve it.
Its a f***** Tattie Scone
I was in a bakers a few months ago when a chap asked the staff member for a roll in tottie scone (scawn) and sausage, and I thought, naw mate, its a Tattie Scone and is never a prefix, it comes after the main roll ingredient. So my limited OCD took over and to enable a balanced approach for my #mentalhealth this came to fruition.
A Better Tide
Happy fulfilling relationships come to us all. You may have to crash through a few waves first, but its just water, so bide your time, you’ve got this. A happier you, moves you along the positive spectrum of your #mentalhealth continuum, and connects with other health benefits for you. A Better Tide is about finding happiness.
If you know, you know.
Imagine the energy
The A frame from the mine where my father worked for the majority of his working life at the Barony, Ayrshire is now a heritage site which I ashamedly visited for the first time this year and it inspired me.
Whatever we are going through just now: be it furlough, job loss, panic or our restrictive lives, it’ll pale into insignificance when compared with those men and women who lost jobs, camaraderie, sense of community, income and focus when they weren’t treated with anything near the compassion they deserved during the industrial meltdown of last century. My father like many before him and after started work in the mining industry when he was 14, now just imagine that for our kids who we might grumble about because we have to home school them. Just imagine 14.
Sanctuary
Being bullied as a child many moons ago just reminds me that we need to look after our childrens mental health during these challenging times. Lets not have history repeating itself.
The Mindfulness Gap 