The oldest form of healing, long practiced in Ireland, proved just the thing for writer Jonathan Self. A leafy lane, not much more than a boreen really, dissects the middle of the Kingstons’ farmyard in Church Cross near Skibbereen. On one side lie the whitewashed farmhouse, weathered stone barns and tidy vegetable gardens typical of a traditional West Cork smallholding. On … [Read more...] about Irish Herbal Medicine
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Comfortable in My Own Skin
After a diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma at age twenty-eight, Emma Graves Fitzsimmons got smart about being in the sun. I wish I could say that I’ve always appreciated my porcelain skin. But for as long as I can remember, I’ve preferred the way I look with a tan and longed to be outdoors with the sun’s rays on my face. That all changed when I was diagnosed with basal cell … [Read more...] about Comfortable in My Own Skin
Finding the Other: The Metamorphosis and Compassion
Molly McCloskey, the author of Circles Around the Sun, shares how one profound reading experience led her to better understand her older brother who suffers from schizophrenia. I can still recall, in the way one recalls the most powerful reading experiences of one’s life, lying on the bed in my studio apartment in Portland, Oregon, and reading “The Metamorphosis” for the first … [Read more...] about Finding the Other: The Metamorphosis and Compassion
Sober
Malachy McCourt writes about being an alcoholic and what it was that finally made him stop drinking. Was I born alcoholic? That’s not clear but I know that the disease does not discriminate against race, gender, age, position, or religion. It is an incurable disease that can be handled by taking certain precautions, foremost of which is putting down the drink – anywhere but … [Read more...] about Sober
The Laughter and the Drink
The Irish are known for ‘the craic and the drink.’ Many well-known comedians have given up on one. People of Irish descent face a host of notions and expectations of how they should be – some based in reality, others plucked from the air and given weight over time. Chancers, charmers, affable but discerning, fiery but kind, quick-witted storytellers, and good drinkers. It’s … [Read more...] about The Laughter and the Drink