Purple Psychology

In a context to Ireland and America. Why I have never got involved in Irish politics despite starting out in student politics both national and within my own university. Why we are still banning tampon ads in Ireland and what route thinking needs to change. Why I focus my energy on the core of each individual.

How do we chart our own growth? Why do we tend to count up the 'young' achievements of famous people so much more easily than their later achievements? Why is reflection so important in a world of external validation? “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin Essay in awareness - 'Journeys' on drnaoiseoreilly dot org

A journey into my thoughts from the legendary Rep. John Lewis, non-violent workshops of CORE and the legacy of Alvin Ailey. The dance shows from Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, Green Wood and Lazarus. My own trauma and my challenges of not being able to dance. My final understanding of how much it takes for us to be physically secure in order to be vulnerable. We can only be vulnerable from the inside out, form having a strong core. And others can only connect with s through our vulnerability.

Where it all began for me - my goal starting my own school. To take literacy and intelligence out of the same sentence. But what I have realised how we need to build others up in order to achieve this goal. Everyone needs to feel secure and whole in order to meet others as equals. I'm very worried about the legacy of our associations of literacy and intelligence in the mass media for the last few years which is growing daily.

How has this changed now that we look to go back to normal? Or has it? Should it? Have we really learnt the difference between education, school and learning? What are my wishes for a new tapestry of education? Can you still find yourself without college? Writing at drnaosieoreilly dot org Essays in Awareness

Why do I can myself an Expression Developist? What is the difference between overthinking and critical thinking? Why I don't like the idea of overthinking. What are the concerns of not having a generation who can critically think and express their opinions? Essays In Awareness pieces 'developist' and 'writing up 11 years' can be found on drnaoiseoreilly dot org

What do INFJs need to know during COVID19? What parts our personality make this a mire intense time? How to get through? How to find the positives? How to be the best version who are contributing to a better humanity. Companion writing can be found in essays in awareness at drnaoiseoreilly dot org

A journey through the personality traits that matter when telling a student if they have dyslexia or not? Why labels can be limiting. A how lack of expectation is the real enemy. A listen requested podcats email purple at purplelearning dot ie to send requests!

Today marks the incredible feat of 60 years since Dr Jane Goodall (0ne of my heroes) first went to Gombe. What can we learn from her? What do mentally strong people really do to survive this pandemic (Covid19)? What can we learn as a society? Companion writing at drnaoiseoreilly dot org (essay in awareness - Developist)

A follow on to the podcats around what girls need from their fathers which I recorded around fathers day. What boys need is slightly more complex as it is more role driven both in their own identity and how they treat women.

Why are we now seeing open letters asking for the right to speech? I always worried about the powerful legacy of insinuation that the '#MeToo' campaign highlighted. I've seen how teens struggle in this world - I know the complex layers to communication, especially those through a text-based world. It's taken me years to find the people to exchange communication with so openly on these platforms in a pure way. A little journey to the complexities I have experienced as a gay woman and why I wrote the piece called 'Insinuations legacy' (found on my drnaoiseoreilly dot org) #freespeach #MeToo

I wrote a companion piece on exiting the Matrix (drnaosieoreilly dot org) Is there only the option to stay or go? How does having a core help you to stay in the madness? Why is it a journey? Why do I have to live in the grit and not on top of a mountain? Why do I look for a healthy amount of insecurity on others? Why do I sometimes take a step away and what are the origins of my need to understand others? What is it like to have a different frame of reference?

How dance theatre represents my core. Inspiration from Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison, Pina Bausch. I wrote a companion piece called Individual Voice (drnaosieoreilly dot org) The origins of my own fears of dancing. Could you imagine if we were taught to swagger down the street with our unique voice? To not all learn to march to someone else’s shape?

Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's play Les Blancs. What are the scars? What are the generational patterns you are trying to overcome in any mixed relationship? Regardless of backgrounds, cultures or religions? What are the scars all around us in our cities? You can be in an interracial relationship and still be racist.

This is an idea I first saw/heard Music by Loah talk about - the hate scale. How small acts of racism add up to the maximum end of the scale where your life is in danger. I introduce the origins of European racism and American. The cultural experiences which allow us to absorb these; Alvin Ailey's Greenwood, Small Island by Andrea Levy, A Rasin in the sun by Lorrain Hansberry, Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston, 12 years a slave. The writing of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and James Baldwin. How it's not enough to just say you are not racist or anti-racist. That you don't have these assumptions - you have to take actions that allow the realties of others lives to change. #blacklivesmatter