Twenty One Days To Go....

Thinking, Travelling and a whole lot of Transport!

Last night, well it was closer to morning than it was night, but either ways, I sharply woke from an intense dream in quite the panic in the early hours of yesterday….The book and all it entails has taken on a new meaning when I’m dreaming about it now too as well as living and breathing every minute of everyday thinking about it….Last night for the first time in ages, I got a deep level of sleep (which was a win for me)…..but in waking from this dream in the middle of that deep sleep, I was awoken mid panic…In my mind, I was at the launch and I was about to speak…I was about to step out in front of people…who knows how many but in my dream there were people there…I wasn’t on my own (thank god). I could feel my heart racing…I could feel my blood pressure rising up…my mouth drying…my hands shaking….was this real? Was I really the person who was going to step out and talk? Who was I to think I had anything worthwhile to say? All these thoughts rushing through my brain like Usain Bolt shooting to the finish line! Yes it definitely was me that was standing there in the dream…..

I woke in this moment and took a deep breathe….What do I do? Was I going to further encourage my state of ‘Oh my god…what have I done?’… chased by ‘I’m too scared to do this’ mentality…following that by, ‘I‘m not able for this? Have I thought any of this really through?’ Yes the panic was real but in that moment, I further heard myself talk in a stronger, louder, more clear voice which said, ‘Don’t be panicking Lou….you have ages to prepare for that moment at the launch and by then your list of seven million things hopefully will be cleared and by then you will be feeling more together’……

See that moment was indeed just a moment but like with everything in this life and in this world, we do have a certain amount of control…and when I say that, I’m referring to one word, one of my favourite superpowers us humans have and that is the word ‘mindset’. Mindset is defined in the dictionary as ‘a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations’. And there lies the magic of being a human with an amazing human superpower of a mind. Animals are amazing in so many ways but the special power we humans hold different to that of the animals is that we have the ability to think and not just in one way of system of thinking. No we have a million options when it comes to looking out at the world, when it comes to assessing other humans and of course in this case, how we see ourselves. I think the biggest trip in setting us into panic is more often than not, triggered when we think about the future whether we are considering ten years down the road or ten minutes. Either can catch us out because at the end of the day we all know no matter what, nobody can take those steps only ourselves. It might just be the decision to get out of bed and grab a cuppa & start your day sprightly or to lie there and let the mind sit and to make that decision and not beat yourself up an hour later.

As humans, we have the amazing ability to think rationally, logically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and the list goes on and on and on. Like the road system of Ireland, whether motorways, by ways, lay aways, boreens, country passages, national routes or regional roads, our brain can take whatever direction it chooses to take when it comes to our thoughts & reactions and it can indeed travel in whatever vehicle it wants too. We can think fast or we can think slow. We can think long or we can think short. We can look for the big picture or the small picture. We can think about ourselves or we can think about others or we can think about both. We can choose to panic or we can choose to breathe. We can choose to act or we can choose to sit still. We can take a bumpy journey and drive into loads of potholes blindly or accidentally or we can sit on the train and look out the window while we figure out our next move. Or maybe we’ll fall fast asleep on the seat behind the bus driver and not worry about where we are going whatsoever. Or maybe we’ll take hold of the steering wheel in the car and clearly mark out our destination in our mind, fill the engine up with sufficient diesel and decide that we are going to arrive where we plan to, no matter the slog as we sing to our favourite choons on the radio. See the brain and the mind is a beautiful thing. And it’s even more beautiful when we recognise it and allow it doing its magic. When we put into place the recognition that we do indeed hold a superpower. A special gift that can make our life less stressed and that engaging with our transport streams of thoughts, by becoming aware of them, that we can indeed choose to take a smoother path for us. Yes the effects might also matter to those around us but it is very much us as individuals that reap the true reward of our recognising our thoughts and the transport of them.

For me I need pictures to understand my thoughts so that leads me to the transport analogies…I love analogies (as you know well)…obviously that’s the little brain people in my head deciding that they like art too & they want to show me what I’m trying to understand in picture….I love WORDS but I love PICTURES too. The picture brain cells (little men & women in my head) help me to understand ideas and most importantly for me, they help me understand me. At the end of the day, no matter what happens in the world or in my life, but particularly if I start to panic about something or something heavy happens, if I don’t show awareness to my thoughts, I now know my feelings will take control of the situations & that is not always a good thing. Sometimes, more often than not, my feelings don’t have a full sense of the big picture & if I was to allow them to drive the car, well god knows where I would end up. Feelings are amazing and again they are what make humans special in another way but if I was to allow my feelings to do my thinking for me all the time, my poor old mindset wouldn’t have a look in. See feelings are like the end destination of your journey. How you arrive to a place is instrumental to how your day ends up going.

Take for example if I didn’t fill up my car with diesel, if I don’t use my indicator and if I just drove around at whatever speed I felt like, the end destination of that journey is going to be messy. The car is going to break down, I’m most likely going to bounce off & damage things along the road and worse still I might end up in a car crash and might even damage someone else while I’m at it….So even though I love that as a human feelings make us magical, my mind and how I decide to act in turn leads to how I feel in many ways.

And this leads me all the way back to my panic about the launch. Yes it is 21 days away. Yes I could allow myself to get stressed and all in a heap about it. Or I could take control of my thoughts and decide that I am going to fill the car up with diesel, I am going to use my indicators when changing directions and I’m even going to see will a few of my friends hop into the car in case I get lost. My panic in that dream was not enjoyable in the moment but it has led to me being proactive today about how my journey to the launch is going to unfold. Do I want this to be a memorable joyful experience or do I want to be a wreck who looks back on this part of my life, and say god I didn’t enjoy that at all? Who is control of that journey? I am, that’s who…and I guess that’s why my brain full of little people, sent me that dream last night. To remind myself that I am in control of my thoughts and therefore in many ways I am in control of my future. Yes there are lots of parts I cannot control but there are indeed lots of parts I can.

I have now made a list - another one (yes!)but instead of driving myself into potholes about what could go wrong or worse still panicking looking at them, I have made positive and proactive moves about my journey for the next twenty one days. I have booked a host, a very good friend to run the launch. I have texted two journalists & two very good friends to see will they speak at the launch and help me make it a special experience for everyone who attends. I have someone working on my website. I have written this substack which I knew I wanted to write but wasn’t sure had I time or braincells to bring you something good. I always want my substack to be my best writing given to you because you have given me your time to read or listen to it. I always want you to know I care about my writing and about YOU and I never want to give less than my best. I also have been at my computer screen since 6am and I feel great because I am making my way through my list. Therefore my thoughts led to my actions and behaviour and in turn led to my feelings. I know this can’t always work out like this and life will throw in lots of other aspects but today I am proud of myself. I haven’t allowed my panic to dictate my mood to the point that I am scattered and stressed. No instead I am focused and driven and I know that if I approach each of the twenty one mornings I have left ahead in some similar fashion, I will stand up at the launch and I will smile and I will have something worthwhile to say.

Thank you for reading all the way down here and thank you always for your support. Today I will send my final proof of the book to the team and in the next few days it will go to print and that will be closing of that chapter in the sense of its next stage of becoming a real book.

My other major move this week is I will be sending out a press release to the media and the people of Ireland to ask for their help in organising my book tour. This is an idea I thought of many months ago and now arrives the moment for me to put it out there and see how we go. It might work or it might fail but either ways I will try it out. The theme in everything around the book and even in writing it, was for me to process my grief in a healing way and then in the end, have as much fun as I could possibly have. When it comes to the launch and the release of the book, FUN must be in the centre of this journey and adventure when I started this. I am someone who believes that it’s not where you are but who you are with in life and I believe the more we are together, the merrier we can be. And there lies the idea behind me asking the people of Ireland to help me travel the thirty two counties of Ireland on the ‘Granny Nancy Cup of Tea’ book tour. My background is working in marketing, journalism, the media and very much promotional industry when I worked in the music industry and it was when thinking about all I had done in the past, that I thought, do you know what I want to try a few new things out especially after considering all we had went through in Covid. So here lies the premise of my press release of fun. I’ll pop it here and read it out to you. It goes like this:

IRISH AUTHOR LOOKING FOR LOCATIONS TO VISIT

AS PART OF ‘GRANNY NANCY’S CUP OF TEA’ BOOK TOUR

Louise Coghlan also known as ‘Lou’ is about to release her first book! And it’s no ordinary story she is sharing. Lou has just completed writing the life story of Granny Nancy, a lady who rose to fame in the many lockdown’s of 2020 & 2021 as Ireland’s Oldest lady and who sadly passed away last September.

‘Granny Nancy, Ireland’s Oldest Lady Who Lived, Loved and Laughed for 107 Years’ is due to be released in Ireland on  October 16th and Louise, as a self-published author is asking the country to get involved in her book tour. Louise would love to call to as many book stores as possible but would also love to leave the opportunity open to visit shops, businesses, schools, churches, book clubs, community outlets and even homes as a place to share Granny Nancy’s story and book.

As an independent writer trying to create a fun and hope filled adventure around the release of Granny Nancy’s story, Louise has decided to call the tour ‘Granny Nancy’s Cup of Tea Book Tour’ with the hope that Granny Nancy might again bring people together to have a good cup of tea and a chat. During the many isolated days of Covid, Lou and Granny Nancy took to their ‘Living and Laughing with Lou’ Facebook Page and offered hope, healing and even a lot of humour in a time of need for so many while delving into many cups of tea together.

In January of 2021, Lou & Granny Nancy took to travelling the thirty two counties of the country on a virtual mass tour with international media outlets such as BBC, EWTN, CBC Canada and lots more all embracing the fun and uniqueness in their goal. It is this idea that has Lou hoping to complete another thirty two county tour, sadly without Granny by her side this time, but instead she will be in her heart and in her hand as Lou heads towards all those who fell in love with Granny Nancy the first time round.

She would love to meet one and all in person now that we can finally come together and Lou would really appreciate your help in organising what will be a very special, spiritual and magical trip of old friends meeting at last.

If you might like to have Lou, visit your area/shop/group/school or business as part of ‘Granny Nancy’s Cup of Tea’ Book Tour please contact:  grannynancy107@gmail.com with your name, your business, your community activity, your location and of course your contact information. All Lou needs is a venue & a teapot!

Lou will also do a FB live stream from your location to add to the fun and messing of it if you might like. She would love to promote not only the beautiful places of Ireland that she will visit along her route but also the beautiful people who she has fallen in love with over the last two and a half years! It’s time to come together and no better woman that Granny Nancy to instigate it and Lou to share with you the love, light and story of the woman herself. Winter may be on its way but the lights of Granny & Lou are about to shine brighter than you could ever imagine! Book them in & be part of the magical thirty two county 'Granny Nancy Cup of Tea’ book tour!

As the saying goes, there will never be another Granny Nancy & there will never be another tour like this again, that is for sure!

For more information please pop along to www.facebook.com/livingandlaughingwithlou or email: grannynancy107@gmail.com

So there it is ….the press release that has been sitting on my desktop for months…The idea that has been brewing and baked in the back of my mind (by all those little men and women sitting in my brain) …Time to let it free. Time to take these steps and time to not panic. Time to believe in myself. Time to trust that what is for me won’t pass me and if it passes me, it wasn’t for me.

I hope life is gentle and kind on you all this week and I hope you have a good week.

Keep looking up and thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading or listening all the way to here. Your support is the fuel in my car, the calmness in my mind and the passion and belief in my heart. Without you, I would not be taking this journey nor would I believe it might just be the most amazing chapter of my life. Forever grateful to each and everyone of you and here’s to twenty one more days until we see if all my work, passion and an awful lot of thinking will it pay off.

Until my next meeting with you at the postbox,

Love and light always,

Your friend,

Lou x