“The Leap Of Faith”

I know we can do this,

July 28th, 2012

What will we achieve? Tangibly, we may never know, all I know is, it is worth doing.

So please allow me to explain how this came about,

I have been privileged to be able to present a radio program that seeks to explore social and political issues, and have covered many varied topics in the past.Some of these have been Institution abuse, Ireland’s Drink Culture, Referenda Debates, Domestic Violence, The Household Tax, Drug Abuse, Marital Separation,Depression, to name a few….. and so, I hope to be able to bring you more of the same in the future.

I have no research team, or major network system that can find me stories, so I rely on a heck of a lot of goodwill and good luck.  I  broadcast on a Sunday, a one hour show, and have often not known what I was going to do by the previous Thursday. Some shows are held with a panel, some are held with one to one interviews, some are held together with cellotape!……the topic dictates the method..thus the name of the show, “The Cutting Edge” , what you hear is on the edge, every time,

You see the type of show that I present, many people say: “Yes, that needs to be discussed”, but the very people that have that extraordinary experience, often,upon an invitation to share their story reluctantly say, ‘Oh, no, I couldnt do that…’

And that is to be respected, no problem with that.

So, a few weeks back, and not for the first time, I decided to discuss Suicide,  an issue that most of us say should be discussed, and yet most of us are reluctant to discuss….

I was privileged to conduct a one hour radio discussion on this subject, which in my eyes, is a rarity. For this topic, as most serious topics of our media today, is given a ‘slot’ to fit the supposed attention span of the listener.

That  is where I tend to differ to the ‘mainstream’, for I like to get down under the skin with my guests, as long as they wish to travel there as well, I ask questions, that allow, not questions that set agenda, I seek for my guest to inform you, not me… for I am just a listener,like you.

And so, on this particular episode, one of my panelists was an amazing young lady named Liz Campbell. She came on to the program to seek volunteers and support  for the All Ireland Skydive Challenge,https://www.facebook.com/All.Ireland.Skydive.Challenge

An event that seeks to raise awareness and funds that help to combat Suicide.

This remarkable young lady, had a passion, a passion that only someone that has traveled the darkness can know, her energy was infectious, her honesty was a gift, her message was simple. (paraphrased)

“I have been there, and I am going to do whatever I can to help others to not go there….”

So here I was, on radio, and found myself struggling for words, committing the greatest of radio crimes…….’Dead Air’.….. The only words I could find were…..”Sign Me Up, I’m in”

Now, it is at this point, that I will categorically state, this is not a stunt……and I hope I have shown that by not mentioning the radio station, or my name, etc thus far………this is just a happenstance.

I met someone that was so passionate about something, that my fear of dying became secondary to my fear of the sorrow of someone else dying. And my empathy and congruence, which I assume is equal to you that reads this, was challenged to be put into action. Not by Liz Campbell, for she respectfully, didnt throw that challenge to me on air, she didnt have to, I heard her, just as a listener,  Tis as Simple as that.

So, here we are, I have signed up to jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet. It isnt a big deal really is it, no one has died in a skydive accident in Ireland as far as the records show, as far as I can gather, so I should be ok, shouldn’t I?

But jumping out of a plane at that height and hitting the ground isn’t the issue, sure, it might be scary, but if I was to ‘bounce’ sure I wouldn’t have to worry would I? Game over.

No, it is the feeling of falling, that has me challenged, for that is a fear that not one of us wishes to face, explore, experience.

For me, this is an enormous challenge, for some years ago, I nearly lost my life, and to throw myself again into an experience that can resurface all of those emotions, is the greatest challenge I have had in years, a challenge I greatly accept, for it will confront possibly all my fears in one defined moment. Game on.

And so here we are, as I opened this blog with a statement saying ‘I Know We Can Do This’

Here is my challenge to you. And You are under no obligation to engage, support or fund, I just seek to invite you to do so, however you can.

The skydive challenge means I must raise funds, they say 500 euro, so for me that is 100 people donating 5 euro each , or 500 people donating 1 euro, etc…. to this cause. If you choose to support me in this, then firstly thankyou, and secondly, this is how you go about it. You can lodge your support  into this account.

Bank:          Bank of Ireland
Acc Name:  Ms Elizabeth Campbell

Ref: #kevq

Acc num:     23285918
Sort Code:   90 60 64

If you have any problems doing this, please let me know either thru this blog, or via twitter @reclaimthevoice , or contact the people, Rosie, Liz or Eddie on the facebook page.

The reference name of #kevq will just be a way of the All Ireland Sky Dive Challenge deciphering who is raising which funds, if that makes sense, …I have never done anything like this before….so can only ask you to trust my ignorance  on these things……

The All Ireland SkyDive Challenge asks each ‘jumper’ to raise 500 euro, and that is fair enough. I want to raise so much more than that, through your word of mouth, your friends, and theirs etc……I know we can do this.

All funds raised are donated to

Pieta House: http://www.pieta.ie/?gclid=CK3omoj-9LACFYFO4Qod52Ym9Q

Lifeline: http://lifeline-kilkenny.org/

and Ola Gola: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMw5fKK9B3A

For now I will thank you for at least taking the time to read this. There is more to write about this project, but I will save that for another post, and if all you can do by way of support, is to re post this, or re tweet this, then you have done what you can, and it is appreciated. 

July 28th The All Ireland SkyDive Challenge: Suicide Prevention and Awareness

We can do this, and if we cant, then who will?

Let’s all take the #LeapOfFaith

I know we can do this

🙂

Voice