Gateway celebration of light, song and community Thursday 17th December 2015

Gateway will celebrate light, music and community together at the Christmas Party on Thursday 17th December 2015 with fun, food and friends throughout the afternoon from 1.00-5.00pm.  Thanks to Dublin City Council for sponsoring this event. 

The plan for the day has been decided by members and includes:
1.00pm sharp: The Gateway Express choral group will open the afternoon with beautiful song
1.30pm:  A celebration of light will bring Gateway together in community and solidarity
2.00pm:  Clodagh and Maryam will delight on bongo and guitar
Drop in will come alive with music, food and member delights...
4.00pm onwards Carols with Clodagh
5.00pm Close & Farewell until new year

Gateway's secret santa will be chatting and sharing gifts amongst  members...  If you would like to bring a small wrapped gift with you for the Gateway gift sack, please do (of a value of no more than €5 folks) ;)

Just a reminder that Gateway's drop in will close at 5pm after the event and open again at 1pm on Thursday 7th January.

There are 6 community member run meet ups taking place as follows.  A coffee or tea is provided and it is a lovely opportunity for a chat with others, all welcome ~ enjoy!


Monday 21st December at Cafe Moda 2-4pm

Thursday 24th December at Starbucks 2-4pm

Saturday 26th December at Starbucks 2-4pm

Monday 28th December at Cafe Moda 2-4pm

Thursday 31st December at Cafe Moda 2-4pm

Monday 4th January at Cafe Moda 2-4pm

#Dignity - Stories From Gateway Members

Hi Everyone,

Here's another story from our #Dignity event.

This one was written by Gateway Member Yvonne, and is entitled 'Cousin'.

Yvonne: Cousin

Shortly after I got sick I went to a family wedding. After the meal I went to the bathroom. One of my cousins followed me outside.

He asked me “if I was alright”, he knew something was wrong. I started to cry but, he put his arm around me and led me around the corner of the lobby to sit down.

I told him what had happened to me and how I feeling, we had a long chat, he made me feel good about myself.  He told me “not to be afraid to ask for help because we all need help sometimes”.

Gateway Christmas Party 2015

Howdy all,

Our Gateway Christmas Party will be happening here at Parker Hill this Thursday, 17th December from 1pm to 5pm. Please see the attached flyer for details! We hope to see you all there!

And if you are a fairly new member and might be a bit nervous of coming along? Not to worry – I’m new to Gateway this year, and it will be my first Gateway Christmas party too, so you won’t be alone! :)

Should be a bit of craic!

All the best,

John M.

Xmas

#Dignity - Stories from Gateway Members

Hello All,

Our next #Dignity Story is called Faint and was written by one of our members for the #Dignity event which was held here at Gateway.

Faint

I am in my father’s living room and I am gazing into the fire with the television over on my left.  I am deeply absorbed by the flames and I feel a sense of peace and warmth. Just as I stand up, the television seems to invade my mind - I feel a very strange inner phased electronic buzzing sound. It seems like my head is electrically charged. I get up after a brief moment of unconsciousness. A little concerned, I decide I should tell my father, who is in the other room, I want him to know in case he finds me out cold.

When he comes in, I tell him what just happened and he tells me how he thought I was a little too absorbed in the fire.  But there is more to tell him. And before doing so, I warn him that due to my heightened sensitivity and a feeling of general suggestibility, I believe it’s possible that I could actually lose consciousness while talking to him. 
He listens, calm and relaxed. I explain that this has not been the only time I’ve lost consciousness.  On a couple of occasions, I had entered what seemed like comatose states for longer or shorter periods of time.  States in which my sense of time was disturbed and I had no sense of life whatsoever.

As I say this - especially saying the word “comatose” I start to faint once more as I had expected. I was otherwise in good health, it seemed to be purely self-suggestion that made it happen.   
But he caught me with his love and with his arms, and I didn’t faint fully this time.  As it passed, I felt that the sharing of this experience with someone had actually helped me overcome the whole issue for once and for all.  He told me kindly that “he was probably more relaxed about these things than most people, and that I shouldn’t worry “. He had had his own fair share of suffering and I believe his insight into suffering was behind his reassurance.

With this simple statement of reassurance, he acknowledged my dignity and autonomy as a human being allowed to experience the drama of life, supported by others without the burden of   people’s worries:  A real dad.  I have had no more faints since. 

What I want people to know from this story:

When you are suffering from mental illness, people who care make all the difference. They can even make very nasty episodes turn into positive ones by their own positive engagement.  It is not hard to support someone with mental illness.  It’s just to be a friend and accept them for who they are.

Sometimes you are helping more than you realise and you are giving them the ticket to normality. The only diagnosis I have been given is “anxiety “. Although I seem to have experienced all kinds of conditions since this started.

I can say that, while some of it is terrifying and some of it is exhilarating, it is all a valid part of the human condition and needs acceptance like everything else.

We get “ill” when it’s too much to handle but we just need a little support. We are the same person, just struggling with huge stresses coming from our minds, from time to time.

December 2015 Newsletter and Schedule

Hi everyone,

Here is our last Newsletter and Schedule of 2015, as per usual more great work from the team!

Enjoy Folks, All the best!

John M.

December 2015 26-11-2015 AliEdit

December 2015

#Dignity - Stories From Gateway Members

Hello Everyone,

Up next in our member's #Dignity stories is a lovely piece by Gateway Member Mary.

Mary: The Warm Welcome

I was in a bad ‘aul place. I felt disconnected and alone. Not knowing where to turn, someone suggested gateway, a community project which was something different, and definitely something new for me.

As I got off the 16 bus and headed for Mount Drummond I was feeling nervous and excited at the same time.  Excited that this might be a place for me and also nervous that I mightn’t fit in.

Making my way through the gates and past the trees [I could see a colourful sign for gateway in a window on the ground floor.Looking in I could see people laughing and chatting around a big table.  Filled suddenly with anxiety, I turned to leave. 

I didn’t get far however before one of the project workers came out to ask my name.  Her welcoming approach put me at ease and I relaxed enough to follow her in for a cup of tea, where much to my relief everybody was just as kind and friendly.

Five years on I’m proud to say that I’m still a member of Gateway.  It’s my second home, a place where I can relax and be myself.  

Wouldn’t it be great if there were warm welcomes like this everywhere?

#Dignity - Stories from Gateway Members

Howdy all,

We will be posting member's stories from Gateway's #Dignity Workshop on the blog here.

It's really great inspirational stuff - have a read, see for yourselves!

Up first is 'The Stigma of Being Human' by Kevin.

Kevin: The Stigma of Being Human

Becoming very withdrawn at age 15, I was in a mind state of fear and negativity.  I couldn’t punch my way out of a paper bag.  I was very passive & would not or could not go to a doctor.  I was in a prison of the mind.

Then Success! At age 30 I finally found my feet with a course in Amenity Horticulture.  The identity of being both a student and gardener agreed greatly with me, giving me a role in this theatre of life, and the confidence to start thinking about how I could make positive progress on other areas.

For the first time since I was a child I had the confidence to go to the barber shop and take part in the everyday conversations held there.  Up until then my father had always cut my hair at home.  I remember feeling a glow, a halo, around my head coming out of the barbershop that day now that I had an identity, a trade of my own.  I even began to advertise in newspapers as a gardener and got work maintaining private gardens.

Looking to develop even more, aware that something was still amiss, I made up my mind to see a shrink.  I think the use of the word shrink for a psychiatrist is to do with the shrinking of an oversized ego through therapy, I read that somewhere.

In any case the Doctor got down to business.  After a few years in therapy, my progress was, to my mind poor as I still didn’t seem able to go out and socialise in the everyday world as I had hoped.
Looking back I believe the Doctors straight talking approach gave me a fair crack of the whip and I found his diagnosis helpful – throwing light on my life story up to that point.  I learned I was a solitary person with an emotionally withdrawn personality.  This did make sense to me.  I was advised that ‘I had to work on it,’ – a very sensible piece of advice.

Things eventually started to improve for me when I joined GROW Mental health, and over the years GROW,Gardening, Music, Gateway, Positive Psychology have all conspired to improve and enrich my like making it worth being human, worth living.