Pádraig had a Sunday morning session with some exercises lying on his side, supporting his upper body with his arm, one leg across the other – and he thoroughly enjoyed it. All made possible by a good friend from Germany who has been in Dublin for a visit (with a friend of hers) and has taken some time out to visit and work with Pádraig. Something quite extraordinary.

Later in the afternoon, I went out to the airport to collect two friends from Pforzheim who will be helping me this week to identify suitable premises for our day centre. We have made some considerable progress with the development of a service level agreement with the HSE which will make renting premises and hiring staff so much easier. All going well, the paperwork should all be finished in a couple of weeks – in other words: in no time at all. It is all going so well that I’m beginning to believe in miracles. It is all so encouraging!

Oh – I know I asked this before, BUT – if you happen to know a place where the An Saol Project could get/rent premises, please let me know. With the HSE service level agreement (soon) in place and the help of our friends, it should all be much easier than before to find a suitable location…

Portmarnock is one of the most beautiful beaches in Dublin. This is where the 1.5 to 1.8 km sea swim took place today.

A great day. One of may yet to come.

The end of a very eventful week.

Tired.

But happy.

Would you believe it?

Listening to the distant noise of the city asleep in the distance, on an open window.

In management training as well as in social pedagogy coaches sometimes use provocative and solution-oriented key phrases to get participants thinking. One of these is: ‘Whatever you fight, you are making stronger’.

It also absorbs most if not all your energy, I would add.

Think about it.

Wouldn’t it be so much better to concentrate on finding and working on a solution?

This morning, we had one of the most amazing therapy, exercise and learning sessions with Pádraig in a long time. He managed to do things we never thought he’d be able to do.

He was on an exercise matt on the floor, lying with his stomach on a peanut-shaped exercise ball. He then lifted his upper body up and kneeled (all with considerable help but nonetheless), holding his head up high all by himself. Another exercise he did completely by himself: while lying with his stomach on that ‘peanut’ he stretched out his right and then his left leg, lifting his knee up from the ground and gently letting it down again, several times.

We were all exhausted after this morning but we had unbelievable fun. We all realised that we were experiencing something truly sensational and unexpected. We had two therapist, supported by myself and, at times, by Pat working with Pádraig, encouraging and supporting him with his efforts. And while he was working so incredibly hard, he was smiling, sharing his humour with us, and very obviously enjoying what he was doing.

It just shows what is possible if you try and if you have the support you need to make the ‘impossible’ happen. How happy, how proud of himself, must Pádraig have been this morning. How much hope and positive energy these achievements must have given him.

I decided to go organic. Or, maybe, it was just an online shopping spree – with the excuse of healthy living.

On one site, I ordered organic vegetables and fruit, on another seeds and fish oil. If, what they told me, is even partially true, I’m now going to live a few decades longer and, perhaps more importantly, much healthier and happier. My heart, intestines, blood pressure, lungs, brain will all be infused with energy and strength. I’ll be running marathons and won’t ever again forget appointments. A bit like superman without kryptonite.

But even prior to that new healthy living approach, soon to arrive at our doorsteps, Pádraig got a taste, a sneak preview, of that power injection. The therapist who looked so well after him in Tating is over for a visit, exploring with us different and better uses of some of the equipment Pádraig has – and in the process solved the mystery of the bath tub.

I had tried to figure out for the best part of a year how we could get Pádraig safely into his super dooper jacuzzi jet stream extra long bath tub, how to support him, make it save and enjoyable for him. I had asked experts and visited trade shows in search of a solution. Without any luck. When we were pulling different cushions and other bits and pieces of material out of their bags, she had a brain wave. Which we swiftly tried out with me being the guinea pig. So I stepped into the bath – and, incredible, it seemed to work! Brilliant and ingenious!

Having made the ‘dry run’ work today, we’re thinking of doing the real thing over the week-end. Can you imagine: a warm, nice smelling bubble bath with jet streams massaging you body, after four years – what an explosion of sensation that must be!

PS: Before you even think about it: no, we did not take a pictures of today’s dry run in the tub!

From our kitchen it sounded as if someone was having a party somewhere outside. And in a sense it was.

Three of Pádraig’s friends had called over to see him after his long absence and had each brought their favourite biscuits. Pádraig’s job was to do the ‘tasting’ and determine which were the better biscuits. A terrible job for the teeth. But fabulous for the taste buds. His verdict was very clear (but won’t be revealed here:)

Pádraig also got it right when Pat asked him this afternoon whether he had been exercising on the MOTOMed earlier today – and I, when he said ‘yes’, initially contradicted him, thinking that he’d getting it wrong. Until, and only after Pádraig had insisted in his calm but determined friendly way that he had in fact been on the bike, I remembered… he was, of course, right. And I had been wrong. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Remember Haiti? The earthquake? How the world discovered more than 550 years after Columbus this small poor island in the Caribbean and rallied to help those poor people who had been forgotten by the world until the earthquake hit?

I know a charity that offered services to the Haitians that were never used and that were (probably) of no use to them. But the disaster of the earthquake put this charity on the map, made it known world-wide and allowed it to recruit hundreds of volunteers, not to mention the fundraising it made possible.

Disasters make charities. Nothing wrong with that, really, unless it’s done in that pretty cynical way I witnessed in the case just described.

On the other hand, there are true disasters happening all the time, every day, and they are not even on our radar.

There are people who are struggling along, working really hard every day until they are absolutely and completely exhausted – and who are ignored and left behind because there is no lobby, and they don’t hit the headlines.

Tactics, cynicism is not their style.

Which, in a twisted way, makes them loosing out double.

Today was one of the most special days in my life. And it will take some time to really sink in.

There were two big, solid, strong men, who talked about Red Hugh O’Donnell, Danny Sheehy, and Pádraig in one single breadth. As heroes. In their own different ways.

I thought about how much fun those three men would have had together had they ever met.

Imagine, we were there 30 years ago! When security suggested we’d move back a little from the stage as it would be jammed with younger fans! – Anyone selling tickets? Are you going to the concert? Lowering their voice, are you looking for tickets? 300 euro.

On a walk along the Canal, The Royal Canal, we passed by Brendan Behan (well, his statue) sitting on his bench – tonight surrounded by tents and loads of people who were having a great time in expectation of a fabulous concert they were going to attend, somewhat remotely, tonight. Even if they had had the money these homeless lads  wouldn’t have thought a minute about spending the kind of money the touts were looking for. In their minds, they already had a prime spot, beside Brendan, on the Royal Canal.

It’s good to be positive. To be upbeat. To believe in what is possible. Life is complicated enough as it is, we all know and fear the things that can go and are going wrong. But focusing on that, even talking about it, admitting that there are ‘dark’ or ‘depressing’ times in our lives is something we often find very difficult.

“I don’t consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin.”

That’s how one of my favourite singers (or poets?), Leonard Cohen, described himself with a hint of irony.

That’s ok for Leonard Cohen to admit. For us to admit to a sense of despair, of failure, of hopelessness, is a completely different story. What would your family, your friends, your colleagues think?

Today, I felt soaked to the skin. There you are. One of these days. Full of dramatic, fundamental questions and no answers. Scarlet in Gone with the Wind had the perfect attitude in relation to these situations.

Tomorrow will be another day and what today seems like a mountain to high to climb will look very differently. I’m sure.

Tomorrow, we’ll be joining many people who have walked, or a planning to walk, the Camino to Santiago de Compostela. All for their own reasons. Many complicated, even terminal, often close to impossible to deal with, all looking for encouragement, peace, strength, meaning, a mission in life, and love.

None of this we can find on our own.

join us tomorrow, Sunday, 23 July, at 10:30, in St James Church, Dublin, for the Annual Camino Mass.
See you there!

There is music in the air. Sound check in Croke Park. Ireland’s biggest stadium where U2 will be playing tomorrow night The Joshua Tree Tour 2017.

Perfectly audible from the attic where I am sitting tonight preparing a homily I’ve been invited to deliver at the annual mass of the Irish Camino Society, the Society of St James, this coming Sunday at 10:30 at the Church of St James.

I am also just off the phone talking to a young woman who is preparing a big event for September that will raise awareness and funds for a number of organisations, amongst them An Saol.

All that while I’ve been working on a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Health Service Executive (HSE) which we will sign soon to allow us to receive funds for the An Saol Project – the three-year pilot day centre for persons with severe acquired brain injuries (sABI).

Busy and exciting days.

Also for Pádraig who performed some really amazing exercises and stretches today on his floor matt. Using a big ‘peanut’-shaped ball, he rolled backwards and forwards as well as sideways on his stomach, sitting back on his ankles, and moving his arms up in the air (with help). It was the first time, Pádraig exercised on his stomach. It must have been an amazing feeling and experience for him, allowing brand new connections to be made in his body, feeling nerves and muscles again after a long break. What a session!

Please join us this coming Sunday, 23 July, at 10:30, in St James Church, Dublin, for the Annual Camino Mass.
See you there!