Today Claire Byrne RTÉ Radio 1
When it comes to children, some people say that there are orchids and there are dandelions.
Orchid children are highly sensitive people and are emotionally more reactive.
Dr Harry Barry - GP and mental health specialist – and lecturer in psychology Dr Ann-Marie Creaven contributed to a discussion on this with Claire Byrne.
Orchids make up about one fifth of the population.
The problem is that many regard their sensitivity as a sign of weakness.
They go into themselves, their internal critic tells them “I’m just soft”, Dr Barry said.
But, he pointed out, these are the good listeners and the good friends – they get the emotional nuances of a conversation.
The difficulty is that they try to hide their sensitivity, he said.
Ann-Marie Creaven pointed to the wealth of research on so-called “orchid children”.
They need a particular nurturing environment to thrive, she said - in contrast to most of us who are dandelion children and will do well regardless.
How do you handle an orchid child - one who is slower and more hesitant to join in?
To begin with, it is important to recognise that there are a lot of people who are hypersensitive and it’s important to learn about this.
Maybe the orchid is more beautiful than the dandelion – both have their strengths.
The lesson for orchid children is that you can’t run from situation that are going to be noisy or difficult or emotional – but that you have a lot that is unique and valuable to offer.
And on the subject of unique and valuable, the death of Meat Loaf brought a great outpouring of grief across Ireland.
We’re not over it in this house yet.
Promoter Pat Egan talked to Claire Byrne about bringing him to Dublin on June 13, 1982. Was it a hot summer night?
He remembers him as a “big larger than life guy” who “took over the room”.
“I’m sad that we’re losing so many of our great music stars,” he said.
He also remembered that Meat had a room at the old Jury’s Hotel and managed to run up a bill of £31,300 on room service … “The hotel was aghast at the time”.
Dave Fanning told Claire Byrne that he met Meat Loaf a couple of times.
“He was one of the nicest guys you could meet,” he said.
He said Meat Loaf played places like the community centre in Moate or in Carlow where there’s a story that the army had to be called in.
“He was frightening in one way and yet absolutely one of the nicest guys you could meet … he gave everything in an interview,” he said.
There was recognition too for his talent as an actor – from Fight Club to the Spice Girls movie.
Fanning said Meat Loaf struggled to get signed up with the record companies with Bat out of Hell – nobody was that interested and now, 45 million sales later…
But the last word has to go to the listener who remembers being in Dubai when Meat Loaf was in concert there.
He was interviewed by the local English language paper.
All the way through the report, the journalist referred to the singer as “Mr Meat”.
