C’est la vie!

I reread ‘The Little Prince’ last night. Actually no, it was the first time I was reading the translation. My grandmother used to read this story to me when I was a kid and I reread it a few times when growing up. I happened to come across a copy of it in English a few weeks ago, and thought ‘why not, it’s been a long time I haven’t read it’. Although I try to avoid translations as much as possible, I still enjoyed the read.

It hasn’t lost any of its freshness and childish innocence. However, behind the light tale are serious concerns. ‘Le Petit Prince’ points to the absurdity of human life. It shows how by growing up as adults, we have lost sight of what’s really important in life. We have become too serious, individualistic, and are unable to reach true happiness. ‘Le Petit Prince’ warns us about the dangers of forgetting how to love with the heart rather than with the eyes, and reminds us how to give a sense to our lives. As the fox says:

“On ne voit bien qu’avec le coeur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux” (”It is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eyes”)

I think this book should be on every bookshelf, it is definitely a beautiful tale of love.

The 1st of May has come, and as every year, I will miss the ‘muguet’ or Lily of the valley.

The first of May is ‘la Fête du travail’ in France, the equivalent of ‘labour day’. It is a bank holiday that has its origin in workers’ revendications for the eight-hour working day. In France, it has become a day where nobody works, except for ‘muguet’ sellers! In my opinion, it’s a very depressing day, there isn’t a shop or café opened (maybe it has changed now), there is no public transport, but the worse is that all the streets are deserted. They are deserted, except by the independent sellers of ‘muguet’. Indeed, anyone is allowed to sell ‘muguet’ without any authorisation or without having to pay taxes on that day, so they are the only ones seen working.

If I don’t like the 1st of May, I do love Lily of the Valley. It is a symbol of the beginning of spring, but also of friendship and luck. And I must admit, I do miss that French tradition of offering it on the 1st of May. Strangely enough, I’ve never seen any in Ireland…

As we are talking about muguet, it would be difficult to avoid sharing with you that song that many French pupils had to learn in school, ‘Le Temps du Muguet’.

You might have heard of that story about a stray dog being starved to death in the name of art. The artist, Guillermo Vargas, is accused of having captured a stray dog, tied it by a rope in his exhibition under the name of the exhibition written with dog food. Whether the dog died or escaped is not clear… Anyway, this is art in our century!

Another exhibition presents seven German artists, who are playing with the idea of ‘hosts and guests’, hosting lice in their hair for a period of three weeks while they are themselves guests in the museum.

I don’t know what you think about it, but that type of art leaves me cold, artistically anyway…

I found this quote on intelligence while reading Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. I love it, so I thought I would share it with you

“that is his head, containing a brain of a different brand than that of the synthetic jellies preserved in the skulls around him”

What a nice compliment!

Last night, I went to see a production of Beckett’s ‘First Love’ by the Gare St Lazare Players at the Half Moon in Cork. I couldn’t miss that! It was the first time I ever saw something by Beckett on stage, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was brilliant!

In a few words, the story is that of a man who, after his father’s death, is thrown out of home and meets a woman on a bench (his new home). He becomes obsessed by her, a feeling he associates with love. After a few encounters on the bench, he moves into the spare room where she lives. After one night of sex, he keeps living there, enduring the noise from the clients she receives in rotation. Finally, he abandons her on the day of the birth of their child because he cannot stand the cries, these have kept haunting him to this day.

It wasn’t a play per se, but rather a recitation of the short story, ‘First Love’. I did read it before, but the performance by Conor Lovett gave it a completely different dimension. First of all, there was the man, Conor Lovett, with a physical appearance worthy of a Beckett character. He had an impressive presence on stage and managed to give life to words. Reading the story, I might have smiled, but last night, I laughed! Many would consider Beckett’s writings as pessimistic, I think they are just realist and pragmatic. Death is a certainty, the only one we have, and life is just, well, time spent waiting for death. Now, Beckett’s vision of that waiting for death might seem bleak to some, but I personally find it quite funny. It is definitely ‘food for thought’, if nothing else. Beckett’s characters do not seem too bothered by the apparent insignificance of their life, and his humour highlights that we might take it all a bit too seriously!

“The smell of corpses, distinctly perceptible under those of grass and humus mingled, I do not find unpleasant, a trifle on the sweet side perhaps, a trifle heady, but how infinitely preferable to what the living emit, their feet, teeth, armpits, arse, sticky foreskins and frustrated ovules.” (Beckett, ‘First Love’)

I was telling you about the ‘earth hour’. Although the project is more about awareness, it might be interesting to see if it has made a difference.

In terms of electricity consumption, the ‘earth hour’ in Ireland can be considered a success since the electricity use dropped by 1.5%, as this RTE article highlights. Some businesses actually got involved in the event and I believe they are the ones who can make a difference. Hopefully next year will be even better. Most importantly though, it should help people realise that day to day savings can also make a difference for the environment. Little things add up…

On another level, I found that the ‘earth hour’ was real quality time. I was a bit extreme and even unplugged the fridge, as a result the place was in total silence. I found that it gave me time to enjoy deep thinking without the distractions of modern life, and it’s something I will now do on a regular basis. I was talking to someone who told me she got to know her children during this hour. She actually got to talk to them and discovered more about them. This says a lot about our modern life. It seems that we have actually lost touch with the important things of life, starting with people around us, because we are too distracted by the modern world. Maybe it’s about time to realise that we should slow down a bit!

Therefore, from personal experience, I think the ‘earth hour’ has been a success. I hope more people will become aware about the impact electricity (since in this case it is limited to that) has, not only on the environment, but on our lives. I’m not talking about regressing, but maybe about learning to reach a better balance.

An event taking place next Saturday was brought to my attention. It’s the ‘earth hour’. For one hour, turn off your lights and other electricity sources, and help doing a little something for the environment. It’s not much, but it could make a difference. Next Saturday, between 8pm and 9pm, I’ll be reading a book by candlelight. What will you be doing?

You can sign up for the ‘earth hour’ here.

                                                           Et un sourire

This is my favourite poem. I find it beautiful, filled with hope, love, and compassion. For me, it represents a lot of things that tend to be forgotten in our modern society. People do not seem to take the time to smile anymore, they are so much in a hurry that they do not pay attention to all the little details that could make them smile during their day. Stop for a minute, look around you, and appreciate. There are still so many simple pleasures in this world, but they are missed on. Why make everything so complicated? Take a deep breath and smile!

I tend to make this my philosophy of life, and it is extremely satisfying! I wake up in the morning and look at the green hills at the back of the houses across the street. I go to the shop and exchange a few words with the shopkeeper. On my way back home, I smile to the passer-bys, and sometimes they even smile back or say ‘hello’. At work, I try to care and to connect with people. And finally, at the end of the day, I think about what made me smile, what positive details happened during the day, and I smile!

Welcome here! and thank you for taking the time to have a look at this blog!

I’m sorry, but I will have to start with a big scream for my country of adoption, Ireland. ‘Stop building the motorway through Tara!’.

For those of you who do not know Ireland, the Hill of Tara was the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland. It is one of the most significant heritage site in Ireland. A motorway is at this moment being built, which is supposed to go through the Tara-Skryne valley. I invite you to have a look at this BBC article to have an idea of what’s going on.

Basically, the debate goes between those who want to preserve the national heritage and those who wish for a motorway so that they can get to work faster. I do support the improvement of roads in Ireland, but I think it shouldn’t be to the detriment of the national heritage.

Since the economic boom, the Celtic tiger as it is called, the country has been ravaged by new buildings. Housing estates are sprouting everywhere and deteriorating the beauty of the Irish landscape. There doesn’t seem to be any laws to protect the national heritage, or if there are, there are not obvious to the common eye. The infrastructure of the country does need to be improved, but it should also be planned and thought through, which I think is not the case.

In my opinion, if the motorway goes through the valley, it means that there are no limits, anything can be done to the country!

If you wish to learn more about the situation at Tara, visit the Hill of Tara blog or the activists site. If you feel concerned, you can sign the petition here. Help to preserve one of the most beautiful countries in the world!