Shattering Glass

When I imagine the idea of trust I picture a glass, something that has taken time to construct; is sturdy in its own right; but has the capability of shattering into incoherent slivers if mishandled, an exact replica never possible if such an event comes to pass. Who we place this glass into the care of can vary. Friends, acquaintances, and political systems all hold some care over this glass; relationships are built around it and it is the responsibility of both parties to recognise the sacrosanct nature of the trust placed in them, treating it as a privilege that could be taken from them instead of a right of way.That, of course, is my idealism talking. We live in an imperfect world so it becomes necessary to place a guard of cynicism on your trust, not to shield it under lock and key but to act as a protector. My question remains however, what happens when the glass is broken? Like the long-told nursery rhyme, can all the king’s horses and all the king’s men put the glass back together again or is it destined to lie in pieces until enough time passes so another glass may take its place.Our current version of the world has provided us with too many examples of shattering glass. The cacophony of noise in-tune with all the senses as many are personally affected by the melee that expands from the primary incident. Recent events have seen thousands of nude images of women shared across different social media platforms, all shared without consent. There is, and can be no excuse for such a breach of trust. There will be further reports on aspects surrounding the concept of image-based abuse from this publication and the job of the journalist will be to tell the story to the reader with the rightful dignity it deserves. We are all storytellers, and while many of our stories are not happy each of them has the right to be heard.This issue of the paper sheds light on news in our world right now and some of the stories provide for moments of exploration through the media. Seasonal Affective Disorder is discussed in the features section while the interview featured in this issue explores the streets of Cork City through the artistic eyes of Kevin O’Brien.Messages from our generation run along the lines of ‘keep safe’ and ‘look after yourself’ and in times like these such messages hold significance for everyone. Words cannot take away wounds of pain but they can acknowledge the hurt and verbalise the necessary steps needed to prevent the glass of trust shattering in the future. There is an onus on all of us to be part of that action, not to wait, or until history views us as leaving it too late to act.Until next time,Fiona Keeley