Of Man and Beast- Who is Noble and Who is Really The Beast?

First off I will warn you this is a mini to a moderate sized rant. It has been simmering for years and I have had little outbursts to unsuspecting people who happened to be in my company over time but lately I just feel so overwhelmingly frustrated and bewildered by man" kind" as of lately that I have to say it here for anyone who's bothered to read.

As a former very proud dog owner ( My darling Mr. Mo passed away at the ripe old age of 14 the summer before last, may his stinky self rest in peace.) I have a special appreciation for the unique bond between owner and pet. Nothing can quite replace that unconditional love a dog shows their owner (That said any of the seldom times that I dared eat a packet of pine nuts or rashers without sharing or didn't give Mo a neck rub QUITE long enough I received a mighty cold shoulder from him, so there actually might be a few conditions but love needs a few rules and boundaries really I guess!) So it completely breaks my heart every time I read or hear about the un-explainable animal cruelty that occurs, what seems more and more frequently, on our small island.

The late and great Mr. Mo & myself.

I have been following the Facebook page for Cork Dog Action Welfare Group over the past few months and I am absolutely blown away by the care and support that this page is filled with for the dogs found. So many well-wishers and foster families for the dogs help to support one another to keep fighting the good fight. The page also has highlighted the unmerciful cruelty that has been inflicted on these poor innocent creatures. Beaten, torture and mostly left for dead these poor mites are given a second chance by the wonderful people at DAWG. One notably is Fionn, the wonder dog, who has stolen my heart along with thousands of others. I have been following Fionn's story from the start where he was found by a walker who almost mistook him as just part of the pile of rubbish he was left for dead on. He was brutally beaten and tires were placed on top of him, it seems as though whoever put him there did not want there to be any chance for him to be saved. Due to the amazing work by DAWG, his foster mom, and the countless supporters that made extremely generous donations Fionn has made a miraculous recovery. His journey has been tough and by no means straightforward due to the extremity of his injuries that were inflicted by nothing more than a pathetic snivelling excuse of a person. (Link here for more on Fionn’s story.) Sadly there are many more like Fionn every day, many of them aren't as lucky as he to have been found and nursed back to health.

Photo Source: breakingnews.ie

What really makes me even angrier is how the people responsible get away with such monstrous actions. Even if they are caught they will serve little to no time for their crimes which absolutely shocks me as according to PETA and many other sources, research and study on psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty and violence against animals do not usually stop there, many move onto humans. Now I am by no means demeaning what I personally consider a gravely serious offence in its own right but if the justice system doesn't see it to be a huge crime by itself can they not take a look at what it could lead to by not taking precautions? Murderers often start out by killing animals, many of them as children but this does not mean that it is limited to a young age. Notorious serial killers such as the Boston Strangler and the BTK killer, among many others, both began their spree early on with their victims starting out as animals according to PETA. Studies undertaken by Cynthia Hodges, attorney with animal law practice and Australian Police both revealed that 100% of sexual homicide offenders examined had a history of animal cruelty. So why are these disgusting crimes not taken more seriously and being reflected by increasing sentences and implementing compulsory psychiatric counselling on those guilty?

The UK seems to have the same lenient sentencing. Trainee Solicitor Katy Gammon only received a measly 18 weeks jail time for purposely tying up and abandoning her boxer Roxy without food or water in an apartment. Her body was found 10 weeks later after dying of prolonged dehydration and starvation. This sickens me to my core that someone could be so deliberately cruel and indifferent to an animal's life.

Orphaned foal stands by its' mother's body. Photo source: The Independent.

In recent months it seems that the number of cases has grown rapidly. To mention but a few, two horses met the grisly demise, one was doused in petrol and lit on fire by a gang of young teens in Tallaght and another was kicked and beaten to death by a group of men in a Wicklow town leaving her defensless foal without a mother. All for a laugh right? I mean sure teenagers were probably rebelling and the men were too drunk, that’s not a psychotic thing to do at all, no sirey. The teens will probably grow out of it and the men must be family men underneath it all, best not ruin their lives for a silly "mistake" - This is probably what many try persuade themselves to think so not to face the reality that these are sadistic acts that will lead to further disgusting violence on more innocent animals and people, but sure as long as it’s not a pet they own or a person they love what does it matter! The more we the people and the law of our land sit idly by the worse it is going to get. To quote the words of Edmund Burke “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.

A lovely selection of adorable "muttley crew" that has passed through the doors of DAWG

What's that word....? It's like how you say....really good or like imaginative.....damnit... *Something* Writing!

Once again I disappeared off the Blogosphere radar for a proportionate amount of time. This time , however, it was due to being side tracked by other writing projects! I swear. You will be happy to know that one of my SINCERE New Year’s Resolutions is to write at least one to two posts every month so everyone can breathe easy. I have no doubt that most of you were at least checking for updates weekly or hitting the refresh button continuously thinking something terrible had happened to me.

I'm back!

I have decided to dedicate the next couple of posts to creative writing, what I have learnt from my class and also my experience so far on the process of writing a piece. I am going to focus this piece on creative blocks.

For those that have read my post on procrastination, I was almost a professional at it by my final year in University. It turns out this dormant skill has not weakened since then, and almost every time I sat down to write my attention span reverted to that of Dory from Finding Nemo. In my defense, regular breaks are recommended when writing to keep the mind fresh and sharp. Although, I doubt I was supposed to take a break from my breaks. On the upside, my doodling skills have vastly improved. I have become the master of 3D boxes and triangles, and of course my favourite cheeky cartoon Koala bears.

One of my Koala Doodles

Many writers suffer creative blocks from time to time. These blocks can be short little annoyances or one big excruciatingly long frustration. There are many tricks and tips that can help with this:

Best solution yet!

The More the Merrier:

My absolute favourite piece of advice, of the many pieces imparted, that my creative writing teacher shared with me is to pour myself a large glass of wine. It’s amazing what taking the edge off can do. I am not by any means implying that to write well someone has to become a regular or heavy drinker. I just found that personally when suffering from an enraging block, being ever so slightly buzzed helped sentences flow easier and made me less critical of what I was trying to say and how I was saying it. A little bit less afraid of sounding stupid, even to myself. To paraphrase a dear family member, after my vat of wine I was most certainly the funniest person at the table. It’s definitely not hard when I’m the only person at said table!

Cheers!

Find a Happy Place:

Your favourite cup of tea or juice drink will also work just as well. I am partial to drinking tea for early morning writing sessions as I just don’t think I’m that “absolutely fabulous” to have wine at this hour. I also don’t think I could ever be that hard-core or more my liver could be. Only time will tell. The essence of this piece of advice is to indulge yourself by drinking or eating things that you enjoy. Get comfortable, put on some of your favourite music, sit back and relax. A positive mind set along with a positive setting is key.

Good Idea?

Practice, Practice, Practice:

It’s important to keep working on your craft even when you find yourself in a block. Write for 15 minutes at the same time of day every day regardless of what it is, if it is grammatically correct or not is irrelevant, can really do wonders. It is amazing what you can come up with when just messing around and writing what you might think of as gibberish. An idea can spark from a simple sentence. Do not put yourself under unnecessary pressure to write your piece perfectly at first attempt. It is highly unlikely that it will happen. Even the pieces that you think are perfect, come the morning light, on second reading sentence structures can be clumsy and grammar can be shady. This is absolutely fine because that is what having drafts and editing is for. It is important to silence the inner critic at least for your first draft. Give yourself a chance! You are not an English teacher or sitting the leaving cert for crying out loud! Unless you are in fact either of those, in which you must be far better than the rest of us and your work will never be good enough.

Don't mind if I do!

Imagination Super Highway:

My lecturer advised for those with particularly bad cases of block to play a game of “Let’s pretend”. If your desk is facing a window look outside at the buildings across from it. Allow yourself to imagine what is going on behind those doors. (It helps if you don’t know the people very well!) Imagine the door opens up and a person comes out- who are they, why are they there? It’s amazing what your mind can build. Don’t be afraid, just run with it. So far I have found myself living across from a serial murderer, a family of ghosts, a squirrel couple who are breaking up because of a nut addiction (his not hers surprisingly!) and a mastermind villainous cat (he's actually real).

Said Villainous cat.

Change of Scene:

Going for a long walk or taking a bath can also be really helpful for pondering stories. Let the mind wander and use your senses. Also, I found my beloved doodling is mighty helpful. Sketching out potential characters or settings then looking at them while trying to describe them. Figure out the when, the where, the who and the why. I even ended up drawing a dreaded spider diagram which I had hoped I left long behind me with my college days. I weaved intricate webs of places and characters, associating words with them and what they are to each other. I made them multi-coloured for fun(!) 

The heart wants, what the heart wants!

Hopefully this little outburst was in somewhat helpful or at least semi amusing to someone. While I focused predominantly on writing in this piece I find that these little tips also work really well when it comes to art and music.  At the very least I will fast become a professional doodler.

There's always room for a pun!