Episode 9 of the podcast has a look at what we know and what we understand, and asks if we can reduce our anxiety by getting more comfortable with what we don’t know and what we can’t control. Pets with confusing names feature early on. There is also a trip to the river, a return […]
Getting comfortable with chickens and ignorance – Episode 09 Read More »
As previously mentioned, I have been prepping a podcast off-shoot for The ClearOut, and I am delighted to present the pilot episode here for your listening pleasure. The podcast continues in the vein of the material I have presented here since 2013, but it is going to be a bit looser, a bit more informal,
What the hell are we listening to? The pilot episode! – Episode 01 Read More »
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
Each day must be begun anew. Sleep is the restorative. Waking is the opportunity. To open your eyes and be able to say “still here, still alive” surely has the potential to infuse you with renewed vigour and appetite for life. Somehow, no matter how paltry your contribution to humanity, no matter how insignificant your
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties. In form and moving, how express and admirable. In action how like an angel. In apprehension how like a god. The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
“This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to
The change of seasons is upon us. The gasfire-warmed mornings of a couple of weeks ago have given way to more temperate conditions. Indoors, for my early-morning writing routine, I am no longer wearing a scarf or chunky neck-warmer, nor am I double-socking. (Yes, Melbourne homes really are that cold in winter and I have
A little, not a lot Read More »
“If you want your soul to stay around after your death, and you don’t like fights, you better look for another philosophy.” A Russian guy, referring to Dialectical Materialism on some website about Marxism. I subscribe to The Proofreader’s Parlour, an excellent blog which offers comprehensive tips and advice to would-be writers, proofreaders and editors.
You do your thing, I’ll do mine Read More »
How tightly do you hold on? Waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Waiting for the next good thing not to happen. Waiting for a door to be unlocked. Waiting for your breath to come. The question is both incomplete and somewhat ambiguous. There are related questions of why and what and how and when.
A question of faith Read More »
“We shape the earth to suit us. Dolphins were land animals once and they went down into the sea and they said to the ocean – ‘shape me to suit you‘. I was in Connemara recently and I saw a dolphin and, oh, the curve of it was as beautiful as any two bars of
It’s only natural! Read More »
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