Stephen's Story 09-12-07 Birthdays and Wedding Days

Today is my birthday! It is raining and I am happy. Just over the hill is the fish restaurant where we got married. We are going there for lunch, just Lauren and me. The lads who run it are great pals.

The day of the wedding there were forty five of us. I put the tables in a square round the outside of the room with just room for us all to sit with our backs to the wall. That way we could all see each other. This is important at my parties as anybody is entitled to stand up and speak their mind or sing a song when the spirit moves them. Most people said something wonderful. Kevin Dunne had a priest's collar which he wore whenever he felt a blessing coming on... Barra O'Tuama sang endlessly (one song) and Pat Scott was seen scurrying under the table as a short cut...

There was an opening in the square of table to allow the waiters free access to serve from in front of us which was great. In the centre of the square was the kid's table so they could see everything and escape under the waiters' feet to do their thing.

Food started at one o'clock and finished around five thirty. Course after course after course: twelve or fifteen of them.

Tomorrow I'll tell you a bit more about the wedding. Now to the restaurant for lunch!

Stephen

Stephen's Story 05-12-07 Blogging and life in hell

Blogging ain't easy you know, as I like to offer a worthwhile gift.

I had an amazing dream last night and I woke up and continued the line of thought. It was like earth shattering and I want to share it with you but I can't remember a thing! Next time I'll get up and write it down - it seemed so magical that had I written it down it might have vanished before morning.

I live a blessed life and a lot of the time I experience it as hell. I must remember to switch to the heaven channel cos I know that's where I am. I just seem to like a little torture and it's said that we humans are smart! I bet a rat or a mosquito wouldn't be so foolish as me.

Slainte.

Stephen's Story 28-11-07 Goodbye Kevin Dunne

One of my best friends Kevin Dunne died last night. Usually when someone close to me dies I don't really get it. I do what needs to be done but I don't allow myself to feel and grieve.

Kevin and I have been soulmates since the Sixties. We met through rock'n'roll. He loved Dylan, I didn't… For almost forty five years he kept playing me Dylan's latest in the hopes of a conversion, but no good.

It's extraordinary how little real stuff, like feelings, we can share. I always assumed I knew where Kevin was at emotionally, but I never checked it out and he probably wouldn't have told me anyway.

I couldn't sleep last night so I got up and sat wrapped up in a rug and left a spare rug beside me for Kevin and I think I heard him say 'Ya stupid bollocks, would ya keep yourself warm'. Kevin was a real giver and it was only last night that I realised how similar we are. We expressed it differently but we were definitely cut from the same tree.

All my love Kevin, travel safely and don't forget to visit - or I'll fuckin kill ya!

Stephen's Story 26-11-07 Oran's breakfast...

Sitting on a hill in Italy 7.30am. Sun rising across the hills. Mist rising from the valley. I feel a burst of happy energy. I light a log fire and do yoga for the first time in six months. I meditate (I must be the world's worst meditator) and eat the remains of my son's breakfast. He has just gone to the airport with his mother, Lauren, and I nearly cry. When he's here we hardly see him and now he's gone back to school in America until Christmas.

I sit and ponder ideas for Musgrave's next promotion. Some new shapes for my pottery for January and details for a spa in Athlone. They are all threads of the same stream of consciousness. When I design I try to be part of where the universe is at the moment and to express it. So all of my work today has a unity, a common theme. I don't think ideas come from me - it's like I am a conduit and dip into the universal consciousness as best I can. Maybe every action in the universe affects this and it's just a question of how open we are to the process.

Love Stephen

Stephen's Story 25-11-07 Let's let go

My friends and family often ask me why I don't write a book. My wife says I have an engaging way of telling stories so that they register as a joke yet carry a valuable message. The truth is that when I express myself in writing I go straight to the centre of the universe and I cannot believe that anyone else would be interested in walking that path with me. So let's go.

Let go of all of your conditioning, beliefs, social niceties and just let the music play and express what comes. I started doing this with my design work and now I do it with everything. At first it feels like letting go of the side of a pool when you are not sure if you can swim. But actually holding onto the side of the pool becomes boring.

For the sake of this game (life) let's imagine there is no right or wrong, good or bad. Our tools are: trusting in the process of living and knowing that the universe is kind and will treat us generously if we play with a whole and open heart.