Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies all our growth and freedom. VICTOR FRANKL
SMELLING SALTS #4: Viktor Frankl
SMELLING SALTS #3: James Baldwin
People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead. JAMES BALDWIN
SMELLING SALTS #2: Alice Walker
Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise. ALICE WALKER
SMELLING SALTS #1: Elizabeth Bishop
Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by. ELIZABETH BISHOP
Leaving the Toddler Mind at the Porch of the Church
An art historian with a spooky and potentially kinky relationship I was just reading a lovely article by the New York composer Nico Muhly in the London Review of Books. He was describing his method of composition – which seems to involve a dizzying array of folders and layers and copies and projects which he […]
The Morning Dread: Shaking Hands with Anxiety
A horrible year of anxiety completely ruined my sleep cycle. I used to sleep like a log. Like my father in fact, who falls asleep instantly and wakes early each morning. I used to sleep like that. A satisfying black-out with no consequences that I can remember. I simply got up and started my day. […]
The pleasure of being scared in the dark
Frensham Pond in Surrey was where I felt it. Feeling pretty crappy after a weird virus that left me with really sore knuckle-joints and ankles, I bailed on a team dinner and stayed at the hotel. I thought it would be good to go for a little walk before crashing under the duvet. All week […]
After a lifetime of searching Alistair finds himself
I have spend four decades (probably more) looking to find myself There’s a great cartoon I saw recently which shows a man looking under a bed at his double – same shirt, same trousers, same hair – who’s lying there, hiding. The caption runs: “After a lifetime of searching, Leonard finds himself.” The more I […]
Working with emotions using meditation
The evolutionary background of working with emotions using meditation. We are emotional creatures. From an evolutionary perspective, we’ve been emotional about 54x longer than we’ve been rational. And this is reflected in our bodies and brains. Evolution doesn’t work by clean starts. It’s always working with what was there before. So when our hominid forebears […]
My Teacher Reggie
Some basic facts about my teacher Reggie Ray I’m about to head off across the Atlantic and spend three weeks in the Rockies with my teacher Reggie. So I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts and feelings about him – since I’m constantly referring, at least obliquely, to him in so many of my […]