Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.
Kurt Vonnegut

I think both are really funny: the picture and the quote. Probably they both refer to something that is not possible.

On second thought, it goes way beyond this. Because what we used to consider impossible, has become reality: courts are no longer respected by those who loose a trial; elections only considered to be fair by those who win; whole regions under water just because of rainfall; temperatures above 50oC, like in New Delhi, become the new normal; killing tens of thousands of children in retaliation for a terror attack is self-defence; food poverty in the richest countries of the world while obesity is becoming one of the highest health risks; people looking out for themselves rather than for each other; lies becoming truths; violence becoming a peace effort.

It won’t take long until the awe we still feel when seeing an elephant on a tightrope or I would feel if someone raised my hand just using their brain power will become a distant memory.

In the meantime, here are some real nice real pictures I took last week in Griffith Park and near it.

I really like this park bench and imagine who it was and what it felt like when they were there, leaving this declaration of love. I couldn’t believe when I saw the Borussia Dortmund stickers on the car and was tempted to leave a note asking whether they’d watch last night’s match, and where.

Birthday

Last week, Pádraig celebrated his birthday. Twice. At home, with the cake and the candle. And in Hedigan’s, with his friends. I know some people who don’t want to get older. I always did, but only until my mid-twenties. Now, I’m not so sure. Pádraig had a great time at both of his parties. These are days when nobody thinks ‘what if’ and all celebrate ‘what is’. And are deeply grateful for that.

It was a very special day. In the company of very special people.

Book Launch

Sometimes, things you don’t plan turn out to be best. This is what happened when we decided not to change the radio channel when Raidio na Life, one of the Irish language radio stations Pádraig had worked with, changed from music to an interview.

It was an interview with Pádraic Ó Máille who has just published: Smacht – The Discipline of Success.

Pádraic used several concepts coming from the Irish language to explain what makes a great organisation. Really interesting, enlightening, and motivating. So on Wednesday we went to the book launch in Chapters, probably the country’s largest bookstore opposite the Ilac Centre in Dublin. We met and talked to Pádraig, who wrote a really nice dedication into a copy of his book, finishing with ‘Pádraic eila’. The former editor of the Irish Times, Conor Brady, introduced the Pádraic and highlighted the importance of storytelling – an art that is someone under threat.

Both Pádraic/g’s were delighted to meet each other and had a great chat. Each communicating in their own way. Pádraig could not have been happier to meet the man from Oranmore sharing his wisdom with us in the beautiful Irish of the West.

What would you do?

I walked into this bathroom last week. There were three lights: one was nearly gone, the next was already dead, and the third was flickering like mad. In my mind, there was very little time left until the remaining two ‘lights’ would join the third in ‘bulb heaven’.

If you worked in this place, walked into the bathroom, and saw these lights – what would you do?

• Chance your luck, try to make your stay as short as possible and get out before the dark to come? Thinking: why is nobody fixing these lights?
• Call maintenance – if such a role existed in your workplace?
• Or, if it didn’t, get new bulbs and a ladder to fix them?

The fact that one bulb was already completely dead, another on its very last leg, and the remaining third one blinking like mad, made me think that people in this place had been taking their chances: somebody some day will fix this. This is somebody’s job. It’s certainly not mine.

We have this tendency to pass on responsibility to others who we can blame then if things don’t work out.

Elephants cannot walk on tightropes. Nobody can raise my hand with their brain power. War is not peace. Lies are not truth. But the ‘impossible’ can become the possible unless we take responsibility for the world around us.

I would start with the light bulbs.