Positively Newsworthy Truth-telling to inspire & ignite your flaming heart

positively newsworthy

GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.

1 Carriers of Culture

WORDS RESHAPE ATTITUDES.

by Alison McEvoy

We all feel the power of words on a daily level, both in person and on the various screens we interact with daily. The whole of media is made up of people racking their brains into forming phrases that get us to feel something (then buy something). What if we all put a little bit more brainwracking effort in for the good of others? In the arena of motherhood and maternity, words used by professionals are particularly powerful. Especially when the journey is being undertaken for the first time and a parent struggles with the lack of a manual on child-raising. In maternity, and/or motherhood, sometimes words are just not enough... such as in the statement ‘I love my son’. Other times, words are just too much and the historic baggage and weight they have accrued makes them unbearable to hear... such as in statements like ‘inhospitable womb’. These heavy duty words are being weeded out by a new generation of mothers who are ready to take a stand, rather than sit in an office hearing words from a ‘professional’ that cut like a knife;

“Words matter. Changing the harmful discourse that’s become so normalised as a way to describe women’s bodies is long overdue.” (Michelle Kennedy, CEO of Peanut app for women) To this end, a new campaign has made a complete ‘Renaming Revolution Glossary’ available for free online and printed copies are being circulated to clinics and related centres around the UK and the US. Can Ireland get in on this?

“... heavy duty words are being weeded out by a new generation of mothers who are ready to take a stand”

2 A Unique Photoshoot

3 Young Scientist Makes Waves

COUPLE ENJOY EXTRAORDINARY ANNIVERSARY.

by Aisling Cronin

Royce and Frankie King, a couple from Iowa in the United States, were first married in 1944 … but they didn’t get to take any wedding photographs until September 2021. Their wedding took place during one of Royce’s two-day leave periods in 1944, before he went overseas to fight in World War II. There was no time for a ceremony, photographs, or even a wedding gown. Seventy-seven years later, the couple enjoyed a very special 77th anniversary on September 16th. Staff at St. Croix Hospice – who help care for the couple – heard their story, and decided they had to make their anniversary extra-special. The solution? A very belated wedding photoshoot! Staff found a vintage 1940s wedding gown for Frankie to wear, while Royce donned his old Air Force uniform. Flowers from the patio were turned into a bouquet for Frankie, and a music therapist from St. Croix played some 1940s standards as Frankie walked down the “aisle.” Against the backdrop of a wonderfully sunny day, the two held a beautiful anniversary celebration in their own back garden. St. Croix Hospice CEO Heath Bartness was moved by the beauty of the occasion. “How can you not have a sense of overwhelming emotion?” he commented. “The connectivity – you almost feel that you were a part of this, and thinking back to what it was like in World War II the first time, and how meaningful and how emotional this second opportunity was.”

Hilary Michelson, a staffer at St. Croix, who is also a professional photographer, captured the heartwarming scenes in a series of beautiful photos that now – at long last – make up the Kings’ wedding album.

“a series of beautiful photos now – at long last – make up the Kings’ wedding album.”

MAGNETISING PLASTIC AWAY.

by Aisling Cronin

Young Irish scientist Fionn Ferreira has come up with a highly innovative solution to the issue of ocean microplastics: a simple mixture of magnetised iron oxide and vegetable oil. Fionn, who hails from Schull in Co. Cork, had been searching for a solution to the ocean’s plastic pollution problem from an early age. “I was at our beach and I saw a rock and it had oil spill residue on it, and stuck to this oil spill residue were plastic particles,” he said. “I asked myself why, and found out that plastic particles are what we call non-polar, and oil is nonpolar too. In chemistry likes attract likes, which means non-polar things attract non-polar things.” He came across a possible solution in the form of ferrofluid, a magnetic substance that combines vegetable oil with magnetised iron oxide powder. 5,000 tests of Fionn’s ferrofluid method demonstrated that it could clean 87% to 93% of microplastics from water: an astonishing discovery. In 2019, Fionn presented his invention to a panel of expert judges at the Google Science Fair ... and won the competition. He is now working to fit the ferrofluid into a device that can span the opening of a home waterpipe, or pipes at a wastewater plant: ensuring that water will be continuously cleaned as it moves through the pipes. He is also researching how to incorporate the ferrofluid into a different machine that could be mounted on boats.

“I started out as a lonely inventor,” he commented, “[but] after the Google Science Fair, I could all of a sudden speak to scientists – they gave me credit for what I had done. My idea was no longer a toy invented by a child.”

“Fionn’s ferrofluid method cleans 87% to 93% of microplastics from water.”

positively newsworthy the little things

1 Soul Kindling

ALL THE WAYS TO SAY ‘I LOVE YOU’.

by A child’s smile

My little boy is a smiler, a waver, a hugger and a raspberry kiss blower. In his less than two years on this earth, he has brought with him an enormous bundle of warmth, affection and love. He is very generous with his currency of smiles, waves, hugs etc. and regularly showers strangers with them in the street as we wander by. For some, this little ray of light from a child’s eyes has amazing effects. These days I am far too exhausted, and my mind too much otherwise occupied, to worry about whether the expression on my face is bringing joy to the general human population or not (it concerned me a great deal throughout my twenties!). My little boy, however, is unknowingly fulfilling this task I used to give myself, in a supremely spontaneous way. He loves to do rounds of our nearby church, fascinated by the huge doors and stained glass windows. The other day he shone a huge smile at the oldest of old men walking by. The man was stopped in his tracks. Adam had made his day, he said, and promised to light a candle for us on his next trip to the church. I could see he felt chosen, that someone had finally seen past his wrinkles, and all the other markings of age on his body, and into his own childlike soul.

8

2 For Those Who See Humour in Everything

by Aisling Cronin “You glimpse hints of daylight even in an ominous horizon…”

“... an enormous bundle of warmth, affection and love.”

You were always the class clown. On dull mornings, your friends knew you would be there with a laugh, a smile, or a wayward remark that would likely be met by a swift reprimand. You injected every moment with a delicious whiff of mischief, and spent many drab hours sitting outside the principal’s office for your trouble … yet it was worth it, always, for you had successfully given life to the spirit of adventure that coursed through your veins. Whimsy and merriment walked by your side, always, for you understood a truth that still nestles deeply within your heart: hope spins its eternal dance in those who remember how to laugh. You see wonder in the midst of chaos. You glimpse hints of daylight even in an ominous horizon, thick with rain-laden clouds. You know how to lend good cheer to those who need it, and this ability has been deeply cherished by the ones you love. Yet a deeper weight sits upon you at times. You have learned to be circumspect with praise, for you remember other, more stinging words, slung from jealous bows. Too intense. Too loud. Too much. “Will you ever grow up? Will you ever take things seriously? Will you never learn to lower your voice, change your tone, be less brash? Your vivacious spark makes us uncomfortable – will you never dim it down?” “Never.” That is the answer of your innermost self: the child whose shoulders still shake with giggles after another outlandish escapade. Their entire being remains alight with mirth. This is who you are.

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