wellness Archives - The ClearOut

Props, Struts, and Straps – the Scaffolding of Self-Support – Episode 256

In this episode, Dara is considering the concept of scaffolding and how it might be applied as a wellness metaphor. Utilised in the world of developmental psychology to describe evolving stages of cognitive growth and early learning, the basic idea relates to baby steps and layered instruction to help someone become more independent. Borrowing also from the world of construction, why can’t scaffolding be applied to self-care?

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Lowering the Bar and Keeping Sight of What Counts – Episode 253

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In this episode, Dara is considering the merits of low bars. How can you talk about heatwaves when it’s only 18 degrees? Very easily actually, when you live in Ireland! How can you celebrate being the fourth worst team in the league? With the greatest of ease when your team has underachieved so badly for two straight years. But it’s a fine line between understanding the usefulness of lowered expectations and giving in to total complacency and the complete absence of any standards at all.

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Nobody Asked For This! – the 250th Episode ‘Celebration’ – Episode 250

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In this episode, Dara is wondering how 250 episodes have come along so quickly. It hasn’t been an effortless process by any means, but somehow the show (or ‘the tell’) has kept trundling along, quietly going about its business. And what business is that, exactly?

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A Free Gift of Love – You’re Welcome! – Episode 249

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In this episode Dara is reckoning with the elusive nature of grace. According to the major religions, and Judaism specifically, it is ‘a free gift of love’ from the Almighty. But if not given by God, from where else might it come? Is it something that we can bestow on ourselves? What conditions need to be in place for that to happen? Is it possible it might come from the award-winning TV show The Pitt?

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What is Your Happy Place? – Episode 248

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In this episode, Dara keeps it in low gear as he attempts to conserve energy and resist the temptation to force anything. Most of all, he is determined to be uninteresting and anything but entertaining. He knows his credo and he’s sticking to it!

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Flipping the Script and Messing with Expectations – Episode 230

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In this episode, Dara considers the power of defying expectations. Partly prompted by a conversation with his dementia-affected father, his thoughts are also informed by a New York psychologist who worked with first responders to World Trade Center attacks. Role-reversal can be both destabilising and disarming, but it rarely goes unnoticed, and it often provokes both consternation and resentment.

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The Wisdom of Humanising the Enemy – Episode 225

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In this episode, Dara is wondering who the enemy is. Finding himself symbolically shaking his fist at the clouds, he tries to work out who exactly he was angry with, and why. His wife used Jedi mind powers to flip the script which only stoked his fire further. The two choices available to him were obvious, and one was certainly not going to end well…

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What Are We Looking For? Warm Blood and Sensory Connection! – Episode 220

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Embattled by consecutive migraines, Dara is reckoning with a system under pressure. He attempts to own the state he’s in while advocating for a deeper connection with what lies beneath all the turbulence. This line of enquiry leads to thoughts on observing a month’s mind for Pepper, the family dog. A phrase used by the Venerable Bede in relation to that tradition inspired a new poem, which is shared.

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Leaving the Room – Cheating Death, Solving Life, and a Planet Where Nobody Dies! – Episode 219

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In this episode, Dara is thinking about what comes next. Prompted by an article about Irish people signing up for their bodies to be preserved at death in the hope of waking up in the distant future, he finds himself perplexed by the desire to outlive a natural lifespan. While it is tempting to dismiss the participants as deluded fantasists, he recognises that something deeply anxious lurks beneath the aspirant futurism.

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Reaching for the Tourniquet, or How to Stop the Bleeding – Episode 218

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In this episode, Dara admits to being a bit exhausted after moving house for the fifth time since the pandemic. It is not the most fun he has ever had and the ongoing grief ripples over Pepper the dog are adding to the load. However, the glass is (probably) half-full and at least the nickname for the new home has come very quickly and easily.

Reaching for the Tourniquet, or How to Stop the Bleeding – Episode 218 Read More »

wellness

Props, Struts, and Straps – the Scaffolding of Self-Support – Episode 256

Lowering the Bar and Keeping Sight of What Counts – Episode 253

Nobody Asked For This! – the 250th Episode ‘Celebration’ – Episode 250

A Free Gift of Love – You’re Welcome! – Episode 249

What is Your Happy Place? – Episode 248

Flipping the Script and Messing with Expectations – Episode 230

The Wisdom of Humanising the Enemy – Episode 225

What Are We Looking For? Warm Blood and Sensory Connection! – Episode 220

Leaving the Room – Cheating Death, Solving Life, and a Planet Where Nobody Dies! – Episode 219

Reaching for the Tourniquet, or How to Stop the Bleeding – Episode 218

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