… of an Irish mind.
‘Sharp’ is word that Irish people use to mean clever – you know “the sharpest tool in the tool box” sort of thing – or “not the sharpest tool”, as the case may be. A sharp tool is a sharpened tool – honed, worked upon, cared for, appreciated. One of my favourite seanfhocail is ‘Aithnigh cú […]
MoreThere is a great Irish saying ‘Bíonn dhá insint ar scéal agus dhá leagan déag ar amhrán – There are two versions to a story and twelve arrangements to a song’. As humans, we are the stories we tell ourselves – there is no getting away from it. It is hard wired into our brain […]
MoreIn the Irish seanfhocail tradition you often find the best advice wrapped in wonderful imagery – it sinks the lesson in that bit deeper. One of my favourites is Ná bris do loirgín ar stól nach bhfuil i do shlí – Do not break your shin on a stool that is not in your way. […]
MoreThere is an Irish version of an universal proverb – An te chuireas, ‘se baineas – He that sows will reap. That’s often thought of as ‘put the effort in and you will gain, don’t and you wont’ – a sort of timely reminder to pull the finger out. In a mindful context, this seanfhocail could […]
More“The luck of the Irish” is a phrase that came out of the American and Canadian gold and silver rushes of the 19th century, were quite a large number of the most successful strikes were by prospectors/miners of Irish or Irish-American birth. There was a bit of racism in it – as if we were just lucky to make […]
MoreThe three good reasons of mindfulness. Trí saghas incheann: inchinn reatha, inchinn cloiche, inchinn chéarach – The three kinds of brains: a running brain, a rock brain, a wax brain. In Ireland we have a long tradition of triads – poetic, insights clustered in threes; like the one quoted above. Three is quite a sacred […]
MoreThere is an old Irish saying Is train de’n obair tus a chur – Making a beginning is one-third of the work. It does acknowledge that it is difficult to make a start but it also quantifies the reward and sets out the secret to success – the sacred three steps. So there is a […]
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