Blossom: Lifting One’s Spirit and Letting It Soar

“. . . at this season, the blossom is out in full now, there in the west early. It's a plum tree, it looks like apple blossom but it's white, and looking at it, instead of saying "Oh that's nice blossom" ... last week looking at it through the window when I'm writing, I see…

Letting Your Light Shine 4: Using Your Talent And Skills As A Writer

What Is Your Particular Talent or Skill As A Writer? Writers write they say. Some of us write fiction and others write facts. Some write poetry and some write prose. Some can write for children, some for magazines. We all write in different genres and styles. Some are good at blogging and some at short…

Letting Your Light Shine 3: Helping Children Discover Their Strengths

3 Elements That Help Form A Strength 1. Performance (being good at something). Watch for when your child shows rapid learning, a repeated pattern of success, and performance that is above age expectations or much stronger than their other skills.2. Energy (feeling good doing it). Strengths are self-reinforcing: The more we use them, the more we get…

Let Your Light Shine 2: Finding Out Who You Are

Also see https://eileenmoynihan.wordpress.com/kids-and-teens-fan-club/ Who Am I? Make up your own poem I am ........................ I want ...................... I worry about ..................... I understand ......................... I believe in .......................... I dream of ....................... I am good at ..................... This is me Finding Your Talents And Using Them Some people are good at sports and others wish…

Letting In The Light And Sharing It

Celebrating Coming Out Of The Darkness Into The Light Easter weekend has just passed and once again I spent time with family, attended church and enjoyed the awakening of nature between the April showers. It coincides with spring in Ireland and there is a great sense of rebirth and renewal. It is a time to…

Happiness (3): In Writing Happy Characters And Scenes

Happy Characters We are all drawn to happy people in life and always hope for happiness for the characters in books that we have empathy with. But usually, those characters have to earn that happiness by going through many trials and tribulations, or else they might seem a bit bland. Amanda Patterson (https://www.writerswrite.co.za/amanda-patterson/) lists 7…

Happiness (2): What Makes Children Happy?

What, then, makes children happy? In the long term, the basic ingredients that make children happy during childhood seem to be the same ones that help them to become happy adults: a secure relationship with parents gives the base to confidently explore the world and develop a sense of mastery and recognition, all important components…

Happiness

Also see https://eileenmoynihan.wordpress.com/kids-and-teens-fan-club/ When I was a young girl many years ago there was a comedian called Ken Dodd who sang songs as well. He sang the song, 'Happiness', and it was so jolly it made me happy too. I can remember my mother singing it around the house. Here is the song and the…

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade: A Highlight Of The Irish Cultural And Religious Celebration

Photo by Lalin Swaris. John Kelly from Longford as St. Patrick Time To Celebrate Again For the first time since 2019, Ireland was able to celebrate the religious and public holiday with parades, dancing and music. The country was given an extra-long weekend from Thursday, March 17 to Sunday, March 20. St Patrick's Day was…

Why Read? (4): Reasons Why Writers Should Read

“Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed? Can the writer isolate and vivify all in experience that most deeply engages our intellects and our heats? Can the writer renew our hope for literary forms? Why are we reading if not in hope that…