Bridget McNulty

Natural vs medicinal

// August 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Diabetes, Life (and the living of it)

I’ll explain about the elephant now.

First, though, an update on my diabetic rant from the other day: my doctor tells me that the blood test result I got really wasn’t that bad (a slight over-exaggeration on my part, perhaps?) and once I’d been to my wonderful reiki lady for an hour and a half of energy healing (call me a hippy if you will!) I felt heaps better. Obviously, the fact that I’ve been away from home for 4 weekends in a row was taking its toll. And the fact that I had to drive all over Gauteng, North West and the Free State, on my own, with no idea where I was going, was ever so slightly tiring. No surprises there…

But it made me think, this wonderful reiki healing, about natural vs medicinal approaches to healing. Before I was diagnosed with diabetes, I was all about the natural way of healing. One of the reasons I got diagnosed so late, in fact, was because I was quite anti-doctor for a while. But now, thanks to my daily doses of insulin, I’ve recognised that there is definitely a place for medicine in my life. A big place!

At the same time, though, I do appreciate that certain illnesses are a result of being tired and overworked and stressed and eating badly and not taking care. And I think flu is one of them… Which is why I loved finding the little wonder up there in that photo – oscillococcinum (impossible to spell, but it works!) It’s a homeopathic treatment that knocks flu sideways, when combined with sleep and rest.

So what do you think? Homeopathic, energy healing, or just good old fashioned medicine? I’m very curious…

Gratitude in a breath of air.

// August 17th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Decisions, Inspiration, Nature, Philosophy

Life is busy, isn’t it? And so much of the time (I realised recently) I’m so busy living it and discovering new things and figuring out how to live it better, that I don’t really take time out to appreciate where I am, right now.

We went away this past weekend, my man and I, with a group of friends, and at the end of the day on Saturday (after a delicious afternoon nap) I took a dog for a walk. This is actually quite big news: dogs and I don’t usually mix. Anyhoo, I took this very playful dog for a walk along these raised wooden walkways right next to the sea… The wind was howling, but it was a warm, friendly wind, and the waves were whipping up into froth, and there was nobody around as far as I could see. After I’d walked quite a distance I stopped and watched the sun set behind a mountain.

I only had a few minutes, because the dog was pulling to keep walking, but I had this sudden, very clear moment where I felt gratitude. For my life as it is right now: for feeling healthy almost all of the time, for having found a man I want to spend all my days with, for a job that challenges me and friends that support me and make me laugh. I suddenly felt this deep thankfulness for it all – as if I’d stepped out of the everyday run of things and could look in and see how lovely it all is.

And it’s stuck with me, this sense of lovely.

Have you had a moment like this lately? Have you given yourself a chance to?

Day 29: Last day…

// July 30th, 2010 // No Comments » // 29 Gifts, Inspiration, Life (and the living of it)

So I’ve come to the end of my 29 day giving challenge… And I wanted this last gift to be something meaningful, something that I will carry into the next 29 days, and the 29 days after that.

So I chose something simple but, for me, profound. I have always wanted to be one of those people who really focusses on someone when they’re talking to them. I am, by nature, a little flighty and scatty, but when I speak to someone and I can tell they’re listening, really 100% listening to me, it makes me feel so great. So noticed and validated and wise.

Do you know what I mean?

For my last day’s gift, I really listened when people spoke. And it felt so good to be right here, right now, present. Presence as my last present. I love it!

PS: The photo, of course, doesn’t really have anything to do with presence. I just love succulents (in case you hadn’t noticed…)

Celebration and sadness:

// May 28th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Love

So here it is: the reason I’ve been such a slack blogger of late.

Two reasons actually, one lovely and one sad.

First the lovely (because all the pictures relate to it).
Last weekend my man and I had our engagement party. It was wonderful! Such a celebration. We had a garden party at our dear friends’ house, and served all kinds of cake, and mojitos. The sun shone, loads of our friends came (some from Durban!) and my whole family was there (half of them imported from Durban for the weekend). Three dear friends stayed with us over the long weekend, and we ate pizza and picknicked in the forest and laughed. A lot.
The night after the engagement party, the three girls came home, changed into our pyjamas, rented a stupid-funny movie and ate take-out. Fun fun fun.

It was a really wonder-full weekend.

The sadness comes in because at the beginning of the week we found out that the girlfriend of one of my man’s best friends committed suicide. Only now they can’t find a cause of death, so it’s possible it might have been a really severe asthma attack. So so sad. She was only 22, but she was bipolar and had had a really hard year. Still, to have life snatched away (or given away) at such a young age just makes my heart ache. As much for the people who are left behind as for the poor girl herself (I didn’t know her that well, I know him really well). And there’s just nothing you can say, you know? No way to make it better. It’s really just a matter of letting time heal.

So it was an unusual week: so full of happiness and so full of sadness. It’s taken me some time to process all of it.
What I’m left with, though, is this feeling of gratitude for so many things in my life. When I first found out that she had killed herself, I thought, “What about ice cream?” What about sunsets and cups of tea on the verandah and long walks in nature and really funny TV and going to the movies and fresh avo on toast and bear hugs and waking up next to the one you love and long silences and laughing till you cry and the quiet of early morning?

But of course, if you’re severely depressed you’re not thinking of these things. I get that.
But it has made me reassess how much I love in my life. What do you love?

Some reflections on driving…

// May 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Cape Town, Life (and the living of it)

So last week I bought my first car! What a day. I managed to go twenty-seven and a half years without owning a car, but the threat of a Cape Town winter with only my scooter for transport was enough to get me to succumb…

This morning I drove to work for the first time. Outside it was cold and drizzly, with a wind blowing and freezing cold drops of rain hitting the windshield. Inside the car, I was warm and toasty, listening to classical music and entirely at peace with the world.

And it made me realise that I have a unique perspective on driving, from not having done so much of it. People cutting in front of me, bad drivers, super-slow crawlers, sure I find them irritating. But not extremely, gut-wrenchingly annoying. And I think this is because I haven’t been exposed to them that much.

I actually found my slow drive to work (in morning traffic) extremely restful. Warm interior! Classical music! Not getting wet!

These are things to be grateful for.

How do you feel about driving? (How long do you think I’ll feel this Zen about it?)

It just works.

// April 16th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Decisions, Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Time

If you’re looking for an instant feel-good hit, check out this video.  (And this picture, how cute is that baby?)
What a pleasure!

And the perfect way to get yourself turned back downstream… Allow me to elaborate:
I had a very admin-full morning today, lots of things to do and people to chat to and meetings to co-ordinate. And by lunchtime I was starting to feel, if not grumpy, then at least a little gritchy. My To Do List for lunch involved two nasty errands: dropping off my tax forms at SARS (the South African Revenue Service) and returning a broken phone, without the original box or receipt.
Yack! What a combo.

So I made sure to get myself in the zone before I ate my lunch. I watched the video (above, again, watch it, now) and got goosebumps. I thought about what a beautiful day it is, how much I love Fridays, how lucky I am.

And then I went to the SARS offices. Where they told me I had to come back next week because the wait time was over 2 hours. I didn’t freak out, asked if I could check if I had all my forms, and spoke to a wonderful lady at Reception who took all my forms and told me I didn’t have to come back, I could just call and get my tax number next week! Amazing.
And then, as if I even need to say this, I went to Telkom and they gave me a new phone no problem…

So when I say getting in the zone makes everything go your way, I really, really mean it. Try it – and let me know how it goes.

Photo: CharlotteSpeaks

The gentle art of acceptance.

// July 23rd, 2009 // 6 Comments » // Decisions, Life (and the living of it), Time, travelling

I’ve been waiting a lot, lately. Waiting to hear back from sponsors about our journey, waiting to hear about a trip to Durban and Joburg for publicity stuff before we leave, waiting to plan the last six weeks of normal life.

I’m not very good at waiting.

In fact, I’m pretty terrible at it. My impatient nature combined with my control-freak tendencies means I’m always wanting to sink my teeth into things, without waiting for other people to do their part. This is not a very good part of my character, I can accept that. And I’m working on it.

But I am also learning to accept other things. In fact, I’m working on the gentle art of acceptance.

We found out this morning that one of the major sponsors we were hoping would come on board doesn’t have the necessary budget to help us out. A lot of this journey towards the journey has been knocking on doors and understanding that some open and some remain stubbornly shut… But I must admit I was really disappointed when this one didn’t fly open. There’s still a chance that they’ll be able to help us out on a smaller level (sponsoring our air tickets and an iPhone so we can record our daily video snippets), but it looks like we’ll now be choosing Plan B.

Plan B is still extremely exciting, just in a different way. Instead of 16 countries for 2 to 3 weeks each, we’ll do 9 countries for a month each – and stick to South-East Asia and South America (the countries where our savings will last us longer!) We’ll be roughing it more, but more open to adventure and new experiences (as there won’t be any time constraints). We’ll get to fully experience two beautiful parts of the world. And if a major sponsor decides to climb on board while we’re away, we can always add in some of the other countries we’re going to be missing. Or that can be Journey 2. Or Journey 3. The plan is to keep doing this as long as we can!

The overriding feeling I have from this, though, is that it’s time for me to walk the talk. I keep saying that life always gives you exactly what you need, and that in retrospect everything always turns out for the best, and sometimes we just can’t see what is best for us from our limited present outlook. Now it’s time to trust in that, to trust in the flow of life. I need to learn to stop micro-managing everything, to trust that if you have the best intentions (and I really do, this cause is something I deeply believe in) that life will give you just what you need.
Only sometimes what that is will look a little different to what you expected it to be.

I’m excited about this journey! Literally and figuratively. I’m excited to challenge myself, to discover new things about life, and love, to explore this crazy world of ours. I’m excited for whatever lies ahead, down the river, around the bend, whatever it is I can’t quite see from here…

PS – Should anyone have any contacts with airlines or big companies who like diabetics or iPhone people, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

My (fun) disaster:

// June 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Strange Nervous Laughter, book launch, travelling

The plan seemed simple enough:
While in New York City, organise a relaxed, informal reading somewhere pretty (i.e. in Central Park) and bake cupcakes to give to people so they have a little something to snack on while I read. Then invite all my friends and contacts in New York (check out the lovely invitation here), and get them to invite all their friends and contacts.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, global warming. In a word (or two).
You see, NYC is not usually wet or rainy in June – it’s summer, it should be deliciously sunny. But the weather has been a little crazy of late, and the craziness did not work in my favour… The forecasts said scattered thundershowers would hit at 6pm. They hit at 2.30pm. My reading was at 3pm.

We’d already baked delicious cupcakes, by this stage (chocolate with vanilla icing and mini M&Ms… yummy!)

And we’d figured out how to transport them across town on the subway (by buying a couple of doughnut boxes from the doughnut store across the road)…

When we exited the subway, it was breezy and warm, and we thought we’d missed the morning rain and were going to miss the evening storms. But when we arrived at Central Park…

The heavens opened. It poured. Bucketed. Deluged us with rain. So that anyone in their right mind, looking out the window in the hour before the reading and deciding whether to come to an outdoor event in the park, would have decided against it (I was already there, so I couldn’t change my mind!)

Still, I had a couple of extremely loyal friends who decided to brave the weather, most notably my Number One Fan, Jess (in her handmade t-shirt)…

Once we realised that the rain was not going to let up any time soon, we traipsed off through the park handing out free cupcakes. It was so much fun! I started off on the baseball field, and people came flocking towards me when they heard the magical word ‘cupcake’ (combined with the equally magical word ‘free’)… and then we walked through the park and I approached people and asked if they wanted a cupcake. They were either totally delighted, or looked a little scared. It was very amusing!

We ended up in a Starbucks (because it was warm, cosy, and quintessentially American)…

Where I gave a short reading, after all…

It was, to all intents and purposes, a complete disaster. But it was a really fun disaster! As I led my merry band of wet friends through the park, handing out cupcakes, I was loving it! It was great fun.

Now, this could have been because I’d had an amazing hour-long interview on Cosmo Radio the day before, and I felt as if I’d already done my bit for book marketing; or because it was the end of a really wonderful three week friend tour all over the East Coast of the USA; or even because I have recently realised that I don’t like organising publicity stuff for myself any more (give me online stuff to do and I’m happy, organise something for me to do and I’m even happier, but don’t put me in charge please!)

It might even be that I am slowly, ever so slowly, learning to let go and see where life takes me. That I am finally learning to be a bit more easy-going and not trying to control everything. Whatever the reason, I had myself an extremely fun disaster of A Reading in Central Park.

The Zen of packing:

// May 22nd, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Decisions, Time, travelling

I studied in the States, so I’ve done this whole long-voyage-across-the-seas about six times… And every single time I would pack at the last minute, totally stressed and strung-out, and go to bed either with things strewn about my room, or with a suitcase so full there was no hope it was ever going to close.

This time, however, I’m packing in style.

Mainly because I have what is without a doubt THE most beautiful suitcase I’ve ever seen. Seriously, I was never excited about a suitcase before I saw this one… Take a look:

It’s a chocolate brown Samsonite. With all kinds of cool little bags to put things in. I think I’m in love! It has four wheels (instead of two) so it slides along so smoothly (I was dancing with it yesterday!), it’s virtually indestructible (I’ll be testing that out!) and it is just so lovely to look at… Really.

Still, I had a mound of things to pack into it. Gifts for seven people I’m staying with, book gifts of Strange Nervous Laughter, and 3 weeks worth of clothing… Not to mention the diabetes supplies, toiletries, accessories and mini juices! (in case my blood sugar goes low). I’m not kidding when I say there was a mound of stuff to pack:

And all into one little (lovely) suitcase!
Never fear… I had a secret weapon. They’re called Vac Bags and I’d never heard of them till yesterday, but they totally saved my life. Basically, they squeeze all the air out of your clothing, so that it ends up taking up the minimum amount of space possible. Genius!

So all of that, turned into:

This! Hardly anything.

Which meant that instead of sitting on my suitcase, sweating, trying to fit everything in and feeling my heart rate shoot through the roof, I could simply place my bags of clothes into my suitcase, and calmly go about my business. Best of all, this means I’m not going to have to repack my suitcase every time I need to get something out (my naturally messy nature usually means that if I try to get one dress out of a suitcase, the whole suitcase ends up on the floor). Nope, now I shall be calm and tidy, and simply undo the bag I need, while leaving the rest tidy. Fabulous!

Now, you might be wondering why I care so much about how easy or difficult packing a suitcase is, but it feels like it’s indicative of the whole trip. I used to get really stressed and dramatic about leaving home for the States (I was too young, it was fraught with emotion) and this is the first time I’m going happily and excitedly. I’m older, hopefully wiser, and a lot more calm and centered, and being able to pack with such ease bodes extremely well for three weeks of happiness in the USA!

I’ll still be blogging as much as possible, although not every day, so check back often to see how the trip is going!

You have to wait for the fish to come to you.

// May 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cape Town, Inspiration, Time

I went for a walk on the Sea Point Promenade with a friend this morning – a glorious, sunshiney, blue skied walk, and we were filling each other in on all the news from the last month or so.

I said to him that we’ve sent out all these proposals for funding for our Round the World trip (read more about it here) and that now we’re just waiting to hear back from people… not really my forte, waiting and patience and all that.

And he said, “Well, obviously you have to wait – you have to wait for the fish to come to you. You throw out your net, and then you wait for the fish to swim into it. It’s no good jumping in the water and trying to catch the fish with your hands, you’ll just get tangled in the net. If you’re fishing in the right spot, you just throw it in and wait.”

Huh. Makes sense, doesn’t it?