Standing at a crossroads No sign posts in sight Do I turn left or right? In danger of getting lost in the middle of the night Dark clouds loom on the horizon Gathering in the northern skies Halting progress forward The distance from home can be measured in miles I take a look over my shoulder Gazing back over the journey I’ve been on There is no going back now The time to go backwards is gone
Liam Flanagan is a 47 year old living in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Degree in English and Philosophy. Teaching Diploma in IT. Ten years experience working in the IT industry. Likes Sport, Music, Film and Politics
Are ye trying to kid me? Do you think we are all idiots Fix it! The world is going to go up in flames Or drowning in rising sea tides Hide The truth is the most important thing is to make money Big business continue to be allowed to mass produce harmful pollutants To get their greedy grubby hands on as much cash as possible Impossible To believe anything coming out of the mouths of politicians Lie as you try to pull the wool over the eyes of the people So fake in your minds eye is to let them eat cake You should be forbidden from showing yourselves in public Power will be taken away and a discovery will be made of exactly what it means to be a part of a republic
Liam Flanagan is a 47 year old living in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Degree in English and Philosophy. Teaching Diploma in IT. Ten years experience working in the IT industry. Likes Sport, Music, Film and Politics
Casting the mind backwards To teenage years An obsession with The Cure And a girl called Mairead I wonder where she is now? Playing football until the light went out at the end of the day Turned eighteen and celebrated being able to have a pint Maybe too much but the crack was mighty with the lads Lassies everywhere excitement of newness and anticipation tangible in the air Turning twenty made very little difference A taste for life had been discovered and developed As the years go by you realise how special those days were Times of friendship and romance Where there was always enough music in the night for one more dance
BY LIAM FLANAGAN
Liam Flanagan is a 47-year-old living in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Degree in English and Philosophy. Teaching Diploma in IT. Ten years of experience working in the IT industry. Likes Sport, Music, Film and Politics.
Finding it hard to envisage a future of harmony and calm
Too tired to raise a sound in opposition of all going on
Rest is now the priority of these times
Relief only being provided when the night time bell chimes
BY LIAM FLANAGAN
Liam Flanagan is a 47-year-old living in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Degree in English and Philosophy. Teaching Diploma in IT. Ten years of experience working in the IT industry. Likes Sport, Music, Film and Politics.
Brad Pitt how you make the ladies hearts flutter You ended up in the gutter with a gun to your head Dumped Jennifer Anniston and chose Angelia Jolie instead Threads Of evidence poured over by Morgan Freeman Detective Somerset by name A role bringing about critical approval and fame Kevin Spacey playing the part of John Doe Determined to turn his life into a horror show Dante outlined the seven deadly sins Each one found in Hell formed in separate rings So be good now and chose carefully the life you lead The last place you want to end up is in Inferno Where all you will hear is cries and screams pleading to be freed
BY LIAM FLANAGAN
Liam Flanagan is a 47-year-old living in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Degree in English and Philosophy. Teaching Diploma in IT. Ten years of experience working in the IT industry. Likes Sport, Music, Film and Politics.
Calling something a "failure of imagination" comes across harsh. It suggests a cognitive failure that couldn't foresee something that never was.
The lack of well-known profound classical texts on the quality of imagination suggest to me that it's not a quality that's prioritized or aspired to. But anything new and valuable started off as an imagination in someone's mind. So it's safe to say all progress rest of imagination.
Yet we're not taught how to imagine. Is it even teachable, I wonder?
Imagination seems to be a root quality that doesn't rely other qualities. You don't need strength to be imaginative; you don't need to be kind, maybe not even very curious. That makes cultivating imagination tricky.
I've been thinking about coming up with a framework that spurs imagination, like a kind of Hero's Journey for what never was. It didn't take long for me to doubt such an approach.
I'm rather convinced that deduction doesn't count as imagination. Suppose you were tasked to come with a fictional premise to an alien world and try to be imaginative about it. You do that by making the population single-gender and give everyone the ability of teleportation. The story proceed as logical progression of those premises. While the end result might come off as imaginative but what takes place in this fictional world is likely logical deduction on the premise.
A common advise towards better imagination is "read more". But all that does is exposing yourself to more existing ideas. By knowing more the chances of coming up with something to *you* would be higher. Does that necessarily mean you are capable of conjuring up something entirely new on your own? I'm not sure.
This relates to the burden of knowledge. Is knowledge an asset or a burden to imagination? In other words does knowing more refrains your imagination to the shackle of what's possible? If so then someone completely ignorant should make the most imaginative person. That doesn't fly.
At this point I'm reminded of how drugs make you creative. The factor lies in the *connections* between knowledge, not in the amount of knowledge possessed. The more rigid the connections between concepts, the less imaginative we get.
Imagination happens when we connect concepts that have never been connected together before.
Now I'm interested in the *process, not outcome*. I wonder how the first human (maybe HG Well?) who came up with the idea of time traveling machine landed on it. I wish it's not entirely accidental. If there's a process to it (even if he was entirely unaware of it) can it be repeated?
The phrase "limited by your imagination" positively connotate that possibility is vast. But imagination on an individual level isn't as vast as it sounds. Imagination is often the one thing that limits you.
Y.K. Goon
Y.K. is a software engineer; investor; a man blessed with curiosity attempting to learn the art of being, in search of antifragility.
The Greek word ‘Hubris’ is defined as having an excessive self-importance or arrogance. It is a word I have been thinking of over the last few days particularly after a meeting I had with a consultant psychiatrist recently. To say I was under-whelmed is an understatement. Not for the first time I came out of a meeting with a consultant with a combination of little hope and total disappointment.
For years now I have been engaged with mental health services. During that time my over-riding impression of the paradigm within which psychiatry works is deeply flawed and is failing those whom have turned to the services for help.
This is down to a number of reasons one of which being the role performed by consultant psychiatrists. My overall impression of those I have met is they are out of touch with the pain and suffering some of their patients are experiencing and are lacking in any meaningful duty of care.
They seem to believe because the so called ‘service user’ has a problem of the mind they are in some way intellectually challenged or deficit in an ability to cope. The profession seems to be over-run by doctors who think they know better or possess a degree of arrogance and inertia unsurpassed by most.
In essence there is very little compassion in psychiatry. Just because someone is living with a mental illness does not mean they are deficient in intellect or emotional intelligence.
The truth is Psychiatry is all in Head while Life is all in the Heart.
Liam Flanagan is a 47-year-old living in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Degree in English and Philosophy. Teaching Diploma in IT. Ten years of experience working in the IT industry. Likes Sport, Music, Film and Politics.
The thirst the anticipation the pleasure Howya A pint of Guinness please How are things? How is the reopening going? Small talk as I watch the pour A tilted glass a slow deliberate pulling of the tap Careful now you don’t want to fill too quickly Three quarters full now is the time to let it settle Magically the brown cloud transforming into a dense black liquid with a creamy white top A thing of beauty to behold A couple of minutes pass Feels like a lifetime as the pint takes shape The top up the completion of an act of perfection The careful walk back to the table Make sure there is no spill now Destination reached two more minutes of diligent patience The time has come Clutch the hand around the glass Lift with care and deliberation Take a long slow satisfying taste of this black beauty Thirst quenched destination reached time to settle Slainte!
The Lion is the King of the Jungle You are the Queen of the Ring Although the roars from Portland Road were the loudest You have made the whole country of Ireland the proudest A lightweight only in name Your talent and brilliance lit up the Olympic Games You bore the flag and have taken home the Gold medal Take it easy now No trouble No worries Rest in the knowledge you have brought so much joy to our lives Each and every one of us Man Woman Child
A poem in honor of Kellie Harrington’s Olympic win.
You a former self sit across the table I could give you so much advice now Each piece contributing to how to live a happy life A road to follow less so many twists and turns Humps and hollows A simpler way to live being kind to yourself all times To take life easy resisting the urge to burn the candle both ends The flame still exists less hot yet enough to feel the warmth inside To love oneself and surround yourself with others you love too Choosing a partner to share the good times and the bad Know your health really is your wealth and life is there to be enjoyed Strive to be the best human being you can be realizing your potential Overcoming any obstacles which may be put in your way
Deborah Horton Writing 