Nollaig Shona

As the Christmas season approaches I find myself getting anxious because I know I won't be able to see the most important people in my life this year. I am excited to experience the Irish traditions and to continue to build relationships here, but it is certainly tinged with sadness for the absence of the comforting familiarity of my loved ones back home.  I remember all the Christmas traditions and how they have evolved through the years to accommodate different phases of life.

This year will just be a new stage of the evolution into new traditions. Earlier in the month I attended a Christmas themed cookery demonstration, I attended the Spirit Radio Christmas dinner and today I got to watch two of the Mahony kids perform in their school Christmas plays. They attend an Irish school, which means they only speak Irish at school. The plays were performed in Irish and were very well done..as far as I could tell. ;)

Last week I recorded my first ad for the Radio station. I was on the air! It was really fun and a bit strange to hear myself.  Hopefully I will get the chance to do more recording for the station in the future.  Otherwise, my time has been filled with lots of administrative work for the Kairos weekend (coming up in February). I am looking forward to having a bit of time off for Christmas and New Year's. I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and know that I am missing you all back home.

Nollaig Shona!

(photo: Rachel and myself going to the Spirit Christmas dinner)

Taking chances...

Something I'm learning consistently throughout my GAP year is: you have to take chances! I mean, people tell you that all the time. The way to grow and get the most out of life is to take chances..do something that's a little bit scary. I suppose I started taking chances the minute I got on the plane to come to Ireland, but I am just now  beginning to understand what it really means. Sometimes, the signs aren't there and you have to take a leap of faith and trust that no matter what happens it will be alright in the end. It's not always easy to see the optimistic angle and that makes the chances you take all the more courageous.

Someone once told me that life is like an adventure book. You turn to a page and it gives you a choice

"if you think you should go through the door go to page 73; 

if you think you should turn back go to page 45"

but the great thing about it is, no matter which way you choose, you always get to the end of the book. It really put things in perspective for me. I am very indecisive, but this made the little choices much less frightening for me. When I don't have control over a situation it's easier now for me to say "I am taking a chance on this course of action, and whatever happens, I will still end up at the end of the adventure book."

One of the great difficulties and opportunities of a GAP year is how to make friends. You come to a new country and you know no one. It's terrifying. What if you start to share things about yourself and everyone rejects you? Fear of rejection can paralyse people for years, but I don't want to be stuck in the same place for a whole year, I don't want to be lonely and I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to learn from other people! I find it helpful to remember that almost everyone feels that same fear of rejection and if I am not the one to break through it, who will?

Needless to say, I have been forcing myself to take more chances, lately. The result has been more rewarding than I ever thought possible. I learn new skills daily. Yesterday, I discovered I can cut my own hair (that's going to help my budget hugely in the future). I've learned so much about the culture and the individuals in the community here just by spending time with people. I learned that it's okay to let go of situations I can't control. I'm about to venture out to the city centre on my own and I can guarantee I will learn something valuable today!

I still get scared when the pivotal moment approaches, but I have the expereince now to say: when I took that chance it turned out alright. So it becomes easier to make that decision the next time.

Thanks for taking the time to read a bit about me and my growing process!! There will be another update soon. Cheers!