Kiaran Finn on Life Matters!

This is a slightly different theme to my usual Blogs and a little less tongue in cheek. One of the most baffling contradictions I see in life is the prevalence of unhappy joyless people surrounded by an environment of milk and honey and more choices to do, have and experience than ever in the history of the world. Are we pre- programmed to be cynical or just blind to the 'miracle' of existence, or is it a mal-adjustment of our perspective lens? You be the judge Excitement, anticipation, aspiration or however you want to label the charge that gets you up in the morning is probably almost completely aligned with you happiness quotient. Some of the most cranky, uninspiring people I’ve ever crossed paths with have invariably shared a couple of personality traits. One is ambivalence, that devil may care attitude, that on the surface presents as cool and unruffled, but upon closer examination manifests its true essence, that of disenchantment. A second trait shared by these joy...

I have way too many Twitter connections. Let’s not delude ourselves that they are Followers-that’s a misnomer if ever there was one. Yep that’s the price you pay for accepting every request. What you say! How can you have too many? Isn’t the goal to have an infinite number of Tweeters in your tribe? Those with the most followers win-surely. Ok perhaps I’m being overly wry. But have you considered the downside to building a large Twitter base? Too many tweets from anonymous twits create a din, not an orchestra.  The tweets that you actually see are completely random and virtually impossible to engage.  Too many ‘followers’ assume that they now have an intimate relationship with you that justifies them sending you automated direct messages-that under any other circumstances would be considered spam. Why bother then? Well of course it’s not ALL bad! A few minutes browsing especially following the retweets (those are usually the interesting ones) can be very illuminating, ...

“I read the news today, oh boy” The Beatles lyrics echo like a broken record in my head. If you’re under 30 I’ve probably lost you with the insect and antique references! As an avid scanner of newspapers, another soon to be outmoded medium, I’ve been wondering lately if there is any correlation between media exposure to ignorance or wisdom. In Ireland there is an idiom, ‘cop on to yourself’, meaning to get a life and not to be so stupid. It’s one of those neat rebukes that is rarely taken offensively, but serves to highlight and dismiss pretentiousness and stupidity. Which I would argue are one and the same anyway. I would also argue that the degree to which we are exposed to the latest media expose is actually more likely to delude us into believing we are savvy, attuned and wise. If you didn’t tune in to the latest current affairs show, read the newspapers or even listen to the radio, what would happen? No doubt the world would continue to unfold on a daily basis. Howev...

The following Blog is written with intention of providing a wry observation on Life Matters and I am flattered if it encourages commentary-however no offense is intended to those, celebrity or otherwise who are under the curse of depression and a link* is provided below to some resources that may prove useful. In a celebrity obsessed modern culture which parades the foibles, inadequacies and fallibilities of these tabloid icons on the red carpet of our social consciousness, I ask the question: When did it become quaint to embrace serious malaise as trendy? Depression seems to have taken over the mantle from suicide as the new chic of uber-modern social currency. How so? I don’t expect delinquent athletes, supermodels or rock stars to provide a moral compass or embrace the mantle of role models. And yet by virtue of the sheer visibility of their every stumble and muttered obscenity, they do indeed have a profound influence on the malleable mind. A demise of a tenuous flirtat...