Who turns this into that? Sound into noise? Aroma into odor? Taste into pleasure or disgust? Who turns yes into no? Grace into disgrace? Who turns the present into the past? Who turns the now into the not-now? As-it-is into as-it-should-be? Silence into restlessness? Stillness into boredom? The ordinary into the menial? Who turns pain…
This week I have been swamped with work, or so I thought, and an uneasy feeling of creeping overwhelm has threatened to flood me. Lockdown had provided me with what felt like a dreamy safe haven, some of my freelance work had been on hold and I think I liked that a bit too much!…
Mindfulness with support on sound has been my go-to practice these past couple of weeks. I admit to a preference here – I find it so soothing, and find myself using sound at times rather than breath to bring myself back to present awareness in my daily life when I find my mind has wandered…
I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost … I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out. II I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I…
This weekend I have been off! I have been doing a lucid dreaming retreat with the amazing Charlie Morley. I am keen to develop my skills to become lucid in my dreams, which means to know I am dreaming while I am dreaming, so that I can continue my practice while I dream. Charlie teaches…
Next baby steps towards addressing unconscious racism Last week I found myself writing about the automatic denial and defensiveness I saw in myself when I was presented with an opportunity to work on discovering how racism might live in me. This response, I later discovered, is typical for a white person. Apparently, many of us…
We are living in interesting times. There are a lot of challenges. However, it strikes me that as a country and as a human race there has never been more opportunity for positive transformation. This is the same in our practice, in our lives and in the world – challenge is the catalyst for positive…
It is possible, I suppose that sometime we will learn everything there is to learn: what the world is, for example, and what it means. I think this as I am crossing from one field to another, in summer, and the mockingbird is mocking me, as one who either knows enough already or knows enough…
Within the body you are wearing, now inside the bones and beating in the heart, lives the one you have been searching for so long. But you must stop running away and shake hands, the meeting doesn’t happen without your presence . . . your participation. The same one waiting for you there is moving…