OK, It's not spring anymore, it's summer - not that you can tell from the fog, drizzle and chilly wind driven rain - but as far as the date is concerned, it's the first week of summer.
So, spring cleaning - I looked at my virtual world and decided it was far too cluttered!
I did that thing you're meant to do with your possessions and clothing. Have I used/worn this in the last 6 months/year? No? Bin It!
LinkedIn? Gone. Deleted.
Twitter? Ditto.
Various email addresses (wow! so much junk accumulates when accounts not touched for months) now deleted.
Extra Facebook profiles - Gone! (Sorry to see you go... Really?? Hardly Old Son!)
My Virtual Alter Egos have been purged, and now I feel decidedly uncluttered. Suddenly my smartphone Hub app has 3 entries instead of 7. I'm sure servers all over the world are breathing a collective sigh of relief as tons of spam gets erased from dormant accounts.
My security must be tighter too now. Facebook and three email accounts - Gmail, Ymail and Live
(Just in case - you never know when you might need one of the Big 3!) - so much easier to keep track of! And with the recent LinkedIn password hack scare, perhaps that's not a bad thing?
So Thank You spring, for the inspiration to simplify my e-Life. I feel positively tidier!
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Monday, 12 March 2012
Cicero
Cicero a Roman politician, lawyer, and orator, who lived from 106 BC to 43 BC, had this to say:
“Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:
Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.”
“Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:
Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.”
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Mission Statement
I remember not that long ago how dedicated I was to living the right life.
I was conscientious and committed to the environment, to my job, to my friends.
At the beginning of each new year I would decide on one new thing to learn - juggling, ice skating, sign language.
I wrote long letters to my friends and I traveled hundreds of miles to visit them.
I would spend all day preparing a three course meal for my friends.
I meditated, I studied Buddhism and I vowed to live a good life free of want and clutter.
...
These days I barely seem to have a minute spare. My days blur from one to the next. Weeks get swallowed up in a routine that is far from routine. I dash from one chore to the next. My friends might get a hastily concocted email every two or three months, if they're lucky. I've not left Cornwall in months.
I have a list of things I need to do that never get done. The important things in life get elbowed aside by trivial time-wasting pursuits.
...
Basically, I have become lazy and ill disciplined.
Not lazy as in bone-idle, but lazy as in not dedicating myself to the right things.
I will Facebook for an hour - and not even good Facebook social interaction - no, bad Facebooking - establishing my kingdom in Castleville! Meaningless drivel.
Instead, I could be teaching my daughter to play the guitar, learning Italian, baking bread or writing a letter to a friend. I could be snuggled up on the sofa with my wife watching a movie. I could be painting the camouflage pattern on the wings of my Spitfire. Any number of better things to do.
...
I once vowed to be the best husband and father I can be - and I live under delusion that I am, because I treat my wife and daughter well, and do many things for them - possibly more than the average guy would - but I fall far short of what I could be. With very little further effort I could do far more, just by devoting my time to them.
The book I am reading at the moment says to "begin with the end in mind". It suggests imagining your own funeral - imagining four people delivering a short speech about you. A family member, maybe your spouse or child - next, a friend, then your employer and finally a member of your community. What would you want them to say about you?
Whatever it is that you want them to be saying - those are your inner goals. And so, each day should be about moving towards those goals.
It also goes on about Leadership and Management - It says Management is about doing something properly, but Leadership is about doing the right thing. It says you can spend your life self managing every detail - taking courses to improve your skills, pursuing promotions, securing your future - but without Personal Leadership - without making sure you are heading in the right direction, that management could be a waste of time. Management is about climbing the ladder. Leadership is about making sure the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
So from now on I will be thinking more about personal leadership - making sure I spend that time teaching my daughter the guitar, making more effort to appreciate my wife, keeping in touch with my friends, and less time managing my kingdom!
I was conscientious and committed to the environment, to my job, to my friends.
At the beginning of each new year I would decide on one new thing to learn - juggling, ice skating, sign language.
I wrote long letters to my friends and I traveled hundreds of miles to visit them.
I would spend all day preparing a three course meal for my friends.
I meditated, I studied Buddhism and I vowed to live a good life free of want and clutter.
...
These days I barely seem to have a minute spare. My days blur from one to the next. Weeks get swallowed up in a routine that is far from routine. I dash from one chore to the next. My friends might get a hastily concocted email every two or three months, if they're lucky. I've not left Cornwall in months.
I have a list of things I need to do that never get done. The important things in life get elbowed aside by trivial time-wasting pursuits.
...
Basically, I have become lazy and ill disciplined.
Not lazy as in bone-idle, but lazy as in not dedicating myself to the right things.
I will Facebook for an hour - and not even good Facebook social interaction - no, bad Facebooking - establishing my kingdom in Castleville! Meaningless drivel.
Instead, I could be teaching my daughter to play the guitar, learning Italian, baking bread or writing a letter to a friend. I could be snuggled up on the sofa with my wife watching a movie. I could be painting the camouflage pattern on the wings of my Spitfire. Any number of better things to do.
...
I once vowed to be the best husband and father I can be - and I live under delusion that I am, because I treat my wife and daughter well, and do many things for them - possibly more than the average guy would - but I fall far short of what I could be. With very little further effort I could do far more, just by devoting my time to them.
The book I am reading at the moment says to "begin with the end in mind". It suggests imagining your own funeral - imagining four people delivering a short speech about you. A family member, maybe your spouse or child - next, a friend, then your employer and finally a member of your community. What would you want them to say about you?
Whatever it is that you want them to be saying - those are your inner goals. And so, each day should be about moving towards those goals.
It also goes on about Leadership and Management - It says Management is about doing something properly, but Leadership is about doing the right thing. It says you can spend your life self managing every detail - taking courses to improve your skills, pursuing promotions, securing your future - but without Personal Leadership - without making sure you are heading in the right direction, that management could be a waste of time. Management is about climbing the ladder. Leadership is about making sure the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
So from now on I will be thinking more about personal leadership - making sure I spend that time teaching my daughter the guitar, making more effort to appreciate my wife, keeping in touch with my friends, and less time managing my kingdom!
Monday, 16 January 2012
Creativity, Journals and the Blank Page
Is it just me, or is there something magical about The BlankPage?
I see a new notebook, I open the cover and for a single moment I'm wondering... What Will I See?
Will it be blank or lined? Thick drawing paper or thin writing paper?
Is it spiral bound, book bound or stapled?
Does it cry out for penmanship, art or stuff to be cut out and glued in?
I love journals and diaries! I cannot resist them. To me they shout creativity. They invite comment, demand action, desire design.
"Can you put something interesting, compelling to read on my front page?"
"Will what you create, write, draw make the reader want to turn to the second page?"
Many of mine start well, but then the inspiration dwindles, they get put aside, and then - horror of horrors - I find a new journal, a pristine blank notebook, a must have scrapbook experience and a new adventure begins.
Diary, Journal, Scrapbook, Facebook, Website, Twitter, Blog
Is there no end to my desire to fill The Blank Page?
I see a new notebook, I open the cover and for a single moment I'm wondering... What Will I See?
Will it be blank or lined? Thick drawing paper or thin writing paper?
Is it spiral bound, book bound or stapled?
Does it cry out for penmanship, art or stuff to be cut out and glued in?
I love journals and diaries! I cannot resist them. To me they shout creativity. They invite comment, demand action, desire design.
"Can you put something interesting, compelling to read on my front page?"
"Will what you create, write, draw make the reader want to turn to the second page?"
Many of mine start well, but then the inspiration dwindles, they get put aside, and then - horror of horrors - I find a new journal, a pristine blank notebook, a must have scrapbook experience and a new adventure begins.
Diary, Journal, Scrapbook, Facebook, Website, Twitter, Blog
Is there no end to my desire to fill The Blank Page?
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
The Vicious Circle
Sleep is that most precious of things. It is the gossamer thread that keeps our lives and our minds from unravelling.
Anything that interrupts our precious downtime is scorned, then vilified before finally prone to serious maiming!
Take, for instance...
Snoring!
Now, I snore. It's no secret - I'm sure my immediate neighbours can vouch for that.
I snore most when I'm very tired or I've had a few units of alcohol. Apparently I also snore because I've gained a few kilos in weight.
But this is where the vicious circle comes in - and it's insidious in its evilness. It is a torture that only a twisted mind of pure genius could have conceived.
I snore. My wife wakes up. She wakes me up to get me to stop snoring. She goes back to sleep slightly grumpier. I go back to sleep.
I snore. My wife wakes up. She wakes me up (slightly more agitated this time) to get me to stop snoring. She goes back to sleep more grumpy. I go back to sleep.
I snore. My wife utters something obscene to herself. She wakes me up (very agitated by now) to get me to stop snoring. She fails to go back to sleep. I daren't go back to sleep! I do however instantly drop back off because now I'm also very tired.
I snore. I wake myself because I'm by now so petrified that I'm on a hair trigger. I hear my wife's exasperated mutterings planning my death. I apologise. I strive to stay awake at least long enough to allow her to go back to sleep. I'm resolute. I'm determ
I snore...
So, 7am and we both awaken. My wife is angry, upset, tired, frustrated. I'm tired and contrite.
But this is where the evilness of this vicious little circle comes into its own.
The next night...
I'm very tired, so I snore even more!
Anything that interrupts our precious downtime is scorned, then vilified before finally prone to serious maiming!
Take, for instance...
Snoring!
Now, I snore. It's no secret - I'm sure my immediate neighbours can vouch for that.
I snore most when I'm very tired or I've had a few units of alcohol. Apparently I also snore because I've gained a few kilos in weight.
But this is where the vicious circle comes in - and it's insidious in its evilness. It is a torture that only a twisted mind of pure genius could have conceived.
I snore. My wife wakes up. She wakes me up to get me to stop snoring. She goes back to sleep slightly grumpier. I go back to sleep.
I snore. My wife wakes up. She wakes me up (slightly more agitated this time) to get me to stop snoring. She goes back to sleep more grumpy. I go back to sleep.
I snore. My wife utters something obscene to herself. She wakes me up (very agitated by now) to get me to stop snoring. She fails to go back to sleep. I daren't go back to sleep! I do however instantly drop back off because now I'm also very tired.
I snore. I wake myself because I'm by now so petrified that I'm on a hair trigger. I hear my wife's exasperated mutterings planning my death. I apologise. I strive to stay awake at least long enough to allow her to go back to sleep. I'm resolute. I'm determ
I snore...
So, 7am and we both awaken. My wife is angry, upset, tired, frustrated. I'm tired and contrite.
But this is where the evilness of this vicious little circle comes into its own.
The next night...
I'm very tired, so I snore even more!
Monday, 15 August 2011
Zen
Make your mind like a bell
a big, heavy, brass bell
ornate on the outside
intricate carvings
interwoven design
a great big heavy clapper hanging in the exact centre
the inside of the bell is beautifully cast
smooth, except for tiny lines like you find on a cymbal
as the bell hangs there, it is motionless and still
then, one movement, the clapper strikes
deep and sonorous
vibrating
diminishing
deep in your chest the vibrations can be felt
gradually getting less and less
the metallic edge to the sound a memory in your ear
in the centre of your head where sound meets and focuses
and then
peace again
the echo only in your imagination now
the clapper barely moving
the bell barely moving
and only a deep inner peace remaining
until you strike the bell again
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