I happened on Adele’s concert. Am I the only one who doesn’t find her easy to watch. She has a lovely voice and great complexion but she is a supreme actor, even when her school teacher appeared out of the audience to greet her and accept her adoration and thanks for encouraging her as a child, there were what to me appeared to be crocodile tears and big hugs but if you noticed she hung onto her mic and held it up to her mouth so we heard every word she said. But more than that, to a degree, every song sounds like every other song. I know I couldn’t listen through a complete album so I wonder how sensible she was to ask Spotify to remove the shuffle facility. Of course there were superb one off songs that I really enjoy and I appreciate her beautiful voice, just not a dozen on the trot.
Then all was redeemed at 9 p.m. on BBC 2 last night with The Final Act – the behind the scenes story of Freddy Mercury and his last days. What a man. No two songs were the same, he lived his music, he was without doubt charismatic and brilliant. My kind of artist.
Baby it’s cold outside.
Chilblain alert. Bed socks but no electric blanket near your toes and no putting your feet on the hot water bottle. If I wear shoes with no wriggle room I’m in trouble. I thought I’d grow out of chilblains but no such luck and no cure and `I’ve tried quite a few. Here’s to warm sunshine and gentle breezes in five months or so and the pleasure of getting out and about again in safety.
Last week saw the 58th anniversary of President J F Kennedy’s assignation. The live drama was hard to watch, fast moving and bloody. Kennedy shot, his wife climbing over the back of the car, the suspect Lee Harvey Oswald being led out of Dallas police headquarters only to be confronted by Jack Ruby and shot at point blank range. There have always been question marks over the tragedy, conspiracy theories and argument. I watched a Prime Video called JFK a ‘docudrama’ about Jim Garrison, district attorney of New Orleans, and his investigations into the assassination. Real eye opener. Recommended.
What’s In A Name
I’m fascinated by surnames, they tell so much about family origins. At school we’d a Mr. Fisher, a Baker and a Tailor, we even had a distant relation called Uncle Willie Seawright! The list is endless and perhaps gives a clue to the owners background centuries ago, Farmer, Pope, Swallow, Fox, King, Archer, Wood – good game for Christmas! But there is one surname for me that stands out above all others. It concerns the Salmon of Knowledge, a most fascinating creature better known as the Big Fish beached on Donegall Quay. Each scale depicts a scene from Belfast history back to Tudor days, views of the city, newspaper headlines, written contributions from school children and a time capsule deep inside. The genius behind this proud animal is Belfast sculptor John Kindness, I remember interviewing him and his name has delighted me ever since.
It came to mind recently when Hope 4 Life launched this year’s award scheme on World Kindness Day. Chief executive Dee Nixon: “Last year we had an amazing event where we got to showcase thirty amazing acts of kindness shown by our local young people to others, from sleeping out to raise money for the homeless to a big sister creating a sensory room at home for her younger brother who has Autism, and a young girl who spent her pocket money creating Pamper Hampers for some of her neighbours who were frontline workers”
So kindness is not in short supply. Do you come across it often?
Saturday week ago I dropped my ‘hole in the wall’ card in a shop. I stood looking at it resting on the floor and contemplated how on earth I could retrieve it, plastic cards are quite difficult to scoop up and with my back situation quite painful. Within a couple of seconds a man in the queue stepped forward and said – “Let me do that for you.” What a gentleman. I thanked him and told him he was a great example of someone celebrating World Kindness Day. I don’t think he knew what I was talking about but was gracious enough to smile and thank me back.
As it says World Kindness Day a world wide movement, however in Northern Ireland the day is set to last months so there’s an opportunity to be kinder for longer with the Hope 4 Life awards.
What Is Kindness?
It’s being gentle, caring. Kindness is a helpful or considerate act. Last week Lady Gaga, who links kindness to mental health released a 30 minute documentary during which she talks with young people. “Kindness and mental health go hand in hand,” she tells them. “To me, kindness is not politeness.” The Power of Kindness is available on Facebook.
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“I was driving on a country road behind a car which was travelling at a fairly slow speed,” one man told me, “but she (a lady driver) indicated to the left and pulled into the verge and allowed me to pass. I considered that a kindness.”
Fiona told me: “I was feeling very sorry for myself, nothing made me happy, I was over eating and not sleeping. Then my little friend who is 13 came visiting. It was great to see him and I perked up but his kindness extended to six small sunflower plants he’d grown from seed just for me. Imagine how that made me feel and as they grew so did my confidence in the future.”
Pauline said: “My grandson called with me the other day and asked if there was anything I wanted doing. I couldn’t think of anything so he talked me through each room asking me to think if there was something I wanted moving or fixing. I thought that was nice of him to be so thoughtful.”
It Can Be Very Simple.
I remember trying to find a chiropodist willing to visit my parents and one man who answered my phone call said of course he would come to the house – because I had smiled at him one day in Rosemary Street!
So being thoughtful doesn’t take a lot of effort and should come naturally but often it doesn’t, I notice men and women are in such a hurry these days that they don’t wait to hold a door open for someone coming behind them. Impatience also seems to strike drivers coming out of side roads but you can be kind and wave them on, more often that not you’ll get a wave and even a smile.
I got this message when I wrote about kindness in the `Irish News:
Loved your piece on Kindness today. I too have experienced the person in shop kindly picking up something from the floor for me. After reading your article I parked in College Square North and a lady came over and gave me the remaining 40 minutes on her parking meter ticket. I told her I had just read your piece on kindness and she smiled and wished me well. Simple but so kind.
Thanks. Ian
Is kindness natural or is it taught? I guess if you grow up with caring people it rubs off and hoping to prove this are Hope 4 Life NI Kindness Awards open to young people aged between 8 and 16 years of age and they anticipate a great response.
Parents, teachers, youth leaders and friends are invited to nominate someone they admire, highlighting their acts of kindness; applications are now open for them to be recognised and to be the stars of the show at the Uberheroes® Acts of Kindness Awards Ceremony being held on Saturday 26th March 2022
Hope for Life are renowned for being highly innovative and creative through their primary intervention, suicide prevention, mental health programmes called Uberheroes® and have delivered this programme to over 22,000 children and young people across Northern Ireland.
If you want to nominate your child or a young person go to https://www.uberheroes.co.uk and click on the page for the awards.
The first touch of real bitter weather yesterday, we even had about five snowflakes in Belfast at about midday. Remember how exciting it was to see the first fall of snow, great yells of excitement in our house when the children were small, the delight of not having to go to school or work for a couple of days, the novelty scored highly. There’s still that moment of magic even when you get older but soon the limitations bite, can’t be spontaneous and jump into the car and head off, the cold permeates the house and the bones. Now that we are advised not to burn coal or wood, the open fire takes a lot of thinking about which is sad as that is one of the joys of a snowy day. But on the other hand the weather dictates outings to the shops, to meet friends, a meal out or an office party and if it’s really bad outside all these activities have to wait for more clement weather and until we are safe from the viruses that threaten our lives. Isn’t it difficult to make up your mind to ignore Boris and continue with life as best we can rather than being happed up, as my granny would say, and stuck indoors for safe keeping. There’s a happy medium, wrap up well, go out but wear a face mask, come home and wash your hands throughly and always keep your distance. Avoid crowds if you can and greet everyone with your elbow! Would you ever have thought life would come to this. Please keep safe lovely people, young and old.
