Musings by Stephen Mulvey

It has been said that if you read yesterday's news you will see it turned out to be nonsense. We might then infer the same about today's news.  I make a conscious effort to avoid the news cycle. It makes me angry and frightened. Instead, I focus on things within my circle of control  (check out Mr Money Mustache's fabulous piece on this concept). Basic self care, tending to your relationships and the work day are quite enough for me. This may sound banal compared with fevered rhetoric about saving the planet, restructuring our societies and so on. But the more of us that keep what's in our purview in check, the better for our wider community. To me that seems a good way of bettering our world across time. And in the immediate term you might just be a little less stressed out.

Some people can't help but light up their stage, whatever it may be. They are invaluable because they make life wonderful. They prompt passers-by and customers like myself to remember and spread the word, long after the fact. My library use their 'community corner' to exhibit books on a particular theme each week, such as 'Traveling in Asia' or 'Cooking for Beginners'. On a recent visit I saw they were between exhibits. No display. Only a table with empty book holders. But they put up a sign: 'Next week we will have an exciting new display in place. For now, please enjoy our collection of invisible books'.  I passed a pub in Galway, Ireland with a sign for non customers: 'You can use our toilets, but please make a £1 donation to our chosen charity at the bar'. In line at a Pret a Manger. A miffed customer ahead of us turns and pushes past my friend, muttering darkly. The barista gives my friend a coffee on the house. 'I'm sorr