I recently was on a Podcast with Valeria from Fit For Joy. Here is a link if you would like a listen. https://fitforjoy.org/guests1/2021/3/23/patricia-mcadoo
There’s a scene in the film Limitless, when Bradley Cooper takes the drug to help him fully utilise his brain for the first time and one of the first things…
There’s a line towards the end of Elizabeth’s Stroud’s book, Olive Kitteridge, when Olive comes to realise something important about her own life: ‘it was because she had not known what one…
Evidence from longitudinal studies indicates that writing down your goals makes it much more likely that you will achieve them. But where and how do you write them? For some…
It’s always worth asking the people in bookstores for book recommendations. Tell them what kind of books you like and they may just recommend a jewel you might otherwise never…
We can spend a lot of energy in our lives blaming other people. It can be hard to let go of past hurts, to stop blaming. But imagine if there…
An interesting area of social psychology is about what influences and persuades us to change in some way and how do we influence others to change? One way of looking…
Today I heard the very poignant love song ‘I’m not going to miss you’ which Glenn Campbell wrote to his wife recently. Sadly he has Alzheimer’s disease and has now entered long term…
The psychologist Ellen Langer talks about the importance of living with full attention and not mindlessly. Paying attention is about being open to noticing new things, even in situations which…
In the film Boyhood (2014)a group of four actors were filmed over twelve years by the filmmaker Richard Linklater, to capture the journey of the main character, Mason, from a…
People who fish our local lake spend a lot of time standing on fishing platforms like this one. It demands a lot of patience, an ability to be still and…
This morning there was something about the quality of light on this path in the local woods that brought me back to walking country lanes during childhood summers spent on…
In 2012 the legendary conservationist Lawrence Anthony died at his home in Thula Thula Game reserve in Zululand. What happened in the days following his death was truly extraordinary. Two…
One of my favourite philosophy books when I was in college was called ‘Towards Self Meaning’. It was about how we come to know ourselves, how we come to self…
Sometimes we can be devastated when we are hit by a big change that we didn’t see coming. The short book by Dr. Spencer Johnson, Who moved my cheese? is a salutary…
The Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie, in her talk on www.ted.com speaks about the negative power of having only one story to tell. We are all capable of telling ourselves one story about…
This morning in Galway we had typical west coast of Ireland weather which began with dark skies, torrential rain and, as I write, the sun has emerged in all its…
Recently I acquired a pair of crutches due to a simple injury. They will be my constant companions for the next few weeks. As a writer, its still possible to…
Today marks the death of Nobel Laureate and poet, Seamus Heaney. Some years ago he was kind enough to meet with the group of writers who had contributed to The Healing…
Researchers Steven Toepfer and Kathleen Walker of Kent State University conducted an interesting study on writing about gratitude. Based on the finding that 40% of our happiness is accounted for…
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.” The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald Over…
Swimming off the steps at Blackrock, Salthill, Galway on a sunny morning is a highly sociable event. All the swimmers chat to each other and there’s a lot of friendly…
Hearing the stories of others helps us make an emotional connection with them. That’s why so many powerful presenters use stories as a way to engage with their audience. Neuroscientists…
Walking in the woods today with Bella, the dog, we veered off the main track and instead explored some of the bike trails. Judging by all the tail wagging, Bella…