''That's When I Could Finally Breathe''

Hey Everyone!

I am proud and relieved to say that I am finally back from an extended/unexpected blog hiatus. I feel sad that I abandoned TRLOA for a month but to be honest, it was necessary.

An awful lot of things have happened since I last wrote here. I found that compiling information and photos every seven days was becoming difficult and with a sickening tug I write - boring. I felt like I was stuck in a rut of doing the same every week. Life has become a mundane pattern of routine as of late and it is tedious. I thought that a break to breathe and live a little more would be more beneficial to myself, my blog and all of you.

Since my last post on February 22nd, I have had a quick month filled with highs and lows. I enjoyed my mid term and came back to school. After an agonising three weeks, I received all my mock results back. Overall, I was happy with them, I got what I need in the actual Leaving Cert which was absolutely unreal. I was a little disappointed with a subject or two but I now know which areas to improve upon for the Leaving Cert. It can't be denied that some results need to be taken with a pinch of salt (or a few!)

I also learnt that the stress of the Leaving Cert brings out the worst in a lot of people. People talk and say things without realising the consequences of their words. Despite the fact that what their saying is a blatant lie, it might be believed by others. Also, if someone is talking behind your back and blackening your name, metaphorically and probably physically, you are ahead of them. Actions have consequences. To quote the play Othello by William Shakespeare, ''Beware my lord of jealousy, it is the green monster which doth mock the meat it feeds upon.''

I actually went socialising during my month off! Below are photos from my friends Maeve and Tom's 18th and also a trip to Dublin Zoo with Spleodar! The party was a fantastic night to say the least. You know it's a good night when I only take one photo ie I was enjoying the night too much to capture it on a lens. The trip to the Zoo was the last Spleodar trip of the year which was sad. I joined Spleodar in Transition Year with a poor level of spoken Irish. I attended one of their Gaeltacht courses last year and was a Cinnire this year. My Irish has improved so much over the past few years and I will really miss all the cinnirí and daltaí.

I was with Grace for most of the day and other students in the club. We saw practically every animal and had a delicious pizza for lunch. The weather was beautiful and I took lots of photos of the animals and the sunshine on the bus home. *Cue a shoutout to the man on the Luas who waved back at us all*

Today is Mother's Day, tomorrow is my Mam's birthday and the next day is St. Patrick's Day. Busy start to the week indeed! It's scary to think how quickly time is blurring past. In two weeks I have my Easter holidays for two weeks then my Irish and German oral for the Leaving Cert. Deep breaths!

Credit to Chloe

Caítlín and I !

So that's about it from me, 

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
(Something which can be difficult but gets me through each day. It is the small acts of bravery in life that define us)

I can finally breathe clearly. 

Aveen. 

*Lyrics Taylor Swift - Clean

Supporting Aware and #BeatTheBlues Campaign

Hey Everyone!

So this blog post is a little different to the rest. Today I want to write about Aware and the brilliant services they provide to people in Ireland and how they are ''Your supporting light through depression.''

In Ireland and all over the world, mental health illnesses are common yet many people hid their illness in shame and embarrassment. It's perceived to a 'weakness of character' and a 'fatal flaw' of a person. It doesn't have to be this way, and Aware have been and still are working hard to break down this stigma that has dominated Ireland for too long.

From their website it's easy to access information about mental illness such as depression, with startling statistics that ''depression affects 450,000 in Ireland at any one time'' That is A LOT of people, it's not just a number, their real people with lives, families and friends. The website is clear and makes finding information on depression easy and has lots of useful links.

Aware also have a #BeatTheBlues campaign which is a free programme for secondary schools in Ireland. #BeatTheBlues is a positive mental health campaign for senior-cycle students in secondary school. Just last Monday I attended the programme as every Sixth Year student in my school had been attending at different times throughout the week.

I can honestly say it was two class periods well spent. We received a booklet and discussed 'The Coping Triangle'  and how to form a coping sentence from using your concerns. I found the coping sentence so effective as I'm in Sixth Year, I'm really worried about getting good test results and achieving all my goals in the Leaving Cert next June. I found that writing down my thoughts, feelings and actions so helpful to articulate my worries about school and my future.

I felt that the programme was brilliant to attend, especially early into Sixth Year, it has since alleviated my stress with studying and the breathing technique we learnt has been quite useful too. We also got to keep the booklet which I've been reading in my spare time and made me realise that I don't have to study 24/7, it's better to study effectively for a short time, rather than study badly and not absorb information for 6 hours straight. It's better to take a break and do something you want to do, like write a blog post!

Aware also have a campaign video here which features graffiti artist Hyerografx and accurately portrays how mental health is so important to us all.

In the midst of studying for exams, it's important to take time to relax and rest :) 

I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog post, if you want to find out any more information about depression or Aware, here is their website. There's lots of easily accessed information and remember, it's okay not to feel okay. 

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!

Aveen xx