2015 International Year of Light

What a wonderful resolution by the United Nations to declare 2015 as the International Year of Light.

They want to raise global awareness by focusing on the topic of light science and its applications and how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health.

It is the year for thoughts and discussion around light to fill minds with bright opportunities and ‘light-bulb moments’.

Well that is quite a statement isn't it!

Light plays a very important role in my life.

My life hasn't always been as happy as it is now.  Many years ago I was caught in a very dark tunnel, all consumed with sadness and fearing I would never see the light at the end of the tunnel again.

I was struggling with a mental illness, my heart had been broken and I was ready to give up......it seemed like an endless state of despair.

Hitting rock bottom and surviving gave me the jolt I needed to ask for help from counsellors and anti-depressant drugs and also volunteering played a big role in my recovery.  Finally I had to find a way to remove myself from the people who upset me and take some control back.

Ever so slowly I regained my self-worth and that all important light returned to my life.

Light now fills my soul, as I hope it does yours, my dear blog friends.

"Mental illness is the last frontier.  The gay thing is part of everyday life now on a show like 'Modern Family', but mental illness is still full of stigma.  Maybe it it time for that to change"
~~ Eric McCormack

"Don't you know yet? It is your Light that lights the worlds" ~~ Rumi

The Real Things in Life - Part 2

More advice that is constantly offered:

Be Healthy!

Of course it's good to be healthy, but this advice is normally so thoroughly bundled up with shame it often does more harm than good.

Yes, people enjoy happier and longer lives if they are not carrying extra weight.

They also enjoy longer and happier lives if they are not laid low by anxiety, depression and self-contempt.

Is our central problem that we ask too little of ourselves or that we demand too much?

We hate ourselves for our every imperfection and then we over-consume in various ways to suppress the shame of that previous over-consumption.

There are two epidemics under way in the West - obesity and depression.

How interesting that both started just as people began obsessing over their body mass index.


"The trouble with always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind."
~~ G.K. Chesterton

I haven't shown photos of my two favourite boys for some time.  Here are a couple taken this year.

Bella and Charlie (aged 8) hanging out together - June 2012

Joseph aged 6. Photo taken at his school art exhibition  - September 2012.

PS  Still haven't found another music site, but discovered how to add a youtube and start it playing when you click on my blog.  So much for the peace and quiet!