I sometimes think that the only sane way to live is to pretend no one else exists. Only in that way can anything resembling serenity be nurtured. That that is the only place where true strength can be cultivated. I was going to use the word ‘forged’ there, but that seemed too macho. Cultivate is a more feminine word, surely.…
Drawing the Line at Madness Episode 8 of the podcast has me taking a good look at madness and placing it in a context of conflict and self-defence. My knowledge of karate and the systematised code of conduct in that world informs the discussion. I find counsel from one of the great fictional madmen – The Joker, and the words…
Patchouli in the Crow’s Nest, or The Search for Cool In episode 6 of the podcast, a trip down memory lane leads to one especially dodgy haircut and some rather nice hats. It also takes in a teenage summer in the USA and a trip to Canada while there. I share some thoughts and further context in response to my…
I Don’t Want to Fix the World, I Just Want to Get Out of Bed in the Morning! In episode two of the podcast, I talk about swimming and the water I swim in. I wonder about the significance of the friendly offer of a cup of coffee. I discuss the primacy of exercise in my life as staple of…
Positivity is a muscle – the more you use it, and the more you use it in a variety of ways, the more effective it gets. Do you ever think about the muscles you use? If you don’t, that could mean several things. It could mean you’re very young, and it hasn’t even occurred to you to think about it.…
My daughter is doing her absolute best to send me to an institution. She revels in breaking my concentration, in pulling my focus, in distracting me in any way she can from whatever task I am feebly trying to complete. Even though she runs the risk of being on the receiving end of an apoplectic outburst on my part, she…
Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise (Daniel 12:1) In a crisis, I look to myself. It is rarely my first instinct to seek help or counsel elsewhere. I partly do this because I have a certain amount of faith in my own resources, and I partly do it because I possibly have less faith in…
I had hoped not to end up writing about the pandemic, but like the damn thing itself, it has become unavoidable. Apart from those whose occupations entail meeting the Coronavirus head on, life is being lived in low gear and in a minor key. We are in a permanent state of crouch, feeling the weight of shared anxiety and uncertainty,…
I swam in horrible conditions the other day. It was not long after dawn on a mucky Monday morning and big, unpredictable swell, with huge surges of cold, dirty water, was moving me around like so much flotsam. I tried to use my usual landmarks to keep my bearings while at the same time avoiding being swept on to them.…
“…my personality had been completely erased. That’s why I’m so boring. People stopped listening to what I was saying, and didn’t seem to notice I was there. Everybody forgot about me. I wasn’t a boy, I wasn’t a girl… I was just a cypher, a sort of glyph. Life’s very difficult when nobody knows you’re there. I couldn’t get a…
the ClearOut 