Valencia filled the river bed And planted trees, with cycle paths And grassy banks and purple flowers Between the bridges that still spanned The wide expanse where once had flowed The brown and brackish Turia. Beneath their arches homeless men Placed mattresses to claim their space, A dormitory when darkness falls, But in the brightness of the day They silently slip down and stroll To where they … Read more
I buy a box of four in nudeTo add to my ever increasingforlorn collection of footwear Last year’s pop socks have mingled, matedand mutated, into a mass of mousy brown hosierynone quite the same shade Twenty five in total, a partner lost somewhere.Called passion killers by a former lover.No one notices them now. Doreen O’Keeffe
I prefer small moments.They don’t insist.They don’t apply for memory. A kettle considers boiling—not yet a decision,just a tremor. Light enters the kitchenas if it had forgottento knock yesterday. Coffee arrives first,announcing nothing,only being itself. No one would nominate thesefor importance.They lack witnesses, applause, a date. I used to trust larger things—milestones with proper names,occasions … Read more
Have you ever had a moment where everything changed? A moment you didn’t choose, didn’t expect, and couldn’t control. It might be your health. It might be redundancy. Or it might be the weight of everything that’s happening in the world right now. Whatever it is, those moments can leave us questioning whether we’re strong … Read more
What was the conference like for me? Honestly? Expansive. Not because everything went perfectly. It didn’t. There were moments of exhaustion, accessibility challenges, nerves before my workshop, too much coffee, not enough sleep, and the occasional “What on earth am I doing?” moment that many of us secretly have at conferences. But somewhere between the … Read more
Psychologist Albert Marahabian is quoted as saying “we are five times as likely to be influenced by voice than by spoken words as we listen to a speaker” There is a lot of learned wisdom in his words. When one reflects on one’s tone of voice when speaking one very quickly learns about volume. Does … Read more
Like many of you reading this, I tried every trick in the Toastmasters handbook (and a few that weren’t in it!) to get mentoring up and running in my club. Everyone wants to learn… but finding the time, is the challenge. Whenever I spoke with fellow Toastmasters about being a mentor, or mentee, the same … Read more
The first District Conference I went to changed my Toastmasters life – forever.It was November 2017 in Sheffield. Several of us from Cork travelled over.I had no idea there were so many friendly people in our District. So manystrangers welcomed me warmly – were interested in me – at the “Newcomers toConference” meeting – at … Read more
During my tenure as Public Relations Manager for District 71 Toastmasters, I had the privilege of serving under the leadership of District Director Danny Banks; a leader whose approach to empowerment and trust left a lasting professional imprint.What distinguished Danny’s leadership style was his strategic restraint. He understood that high-performing teams are not built through … Read more
Nine years ago, I joined my local Toastmasters Club. On day one, I was approached with the option to step in as Club Secretary. 2017 was the year I decided to make key changes and say yes to things I would have previously shied away from. There was much work to be done and was … Read more