Two for Joy

(Not quite as impressive as your capture from the magpies the other day, aA!)

One of the more joyful murals in Belfast...we still have our fair share of threatening ones, marking paramilitary territories - makes you appreciate the peaceful ones all the more. And the peace - how much things have changed for the better! Listening to some of the stories Grandma told of the Troubles last night...3 times Grandpa’s work was bombed, 2 murders on their street, and an anonymous phone call to say they had 5 minutes to get out of their house. First day in psychiatry involved a lecture on PTSD - learning that Northern Ireland has the highest rate in Western Europe, and one of the highest in the world.

And yet in my lifetime, I’ve never felt in any danger from the conflict (the Good Friday Agreement was signed the year I was born). How I wish that feeling could be known across the world right now. Peace is possible. Not without hard work, sacrifice, commitment, or humility. I’m amazed by the resilience that’s been shown by the children in countries such as Yemen - we have so much to learn from them. They seem to understand far more than many adults, that our responsibility to each other is more important than our own individual rights.