Almost Composed

Meditation and curiosity

Bad juju

April 1, 2016

While supposedly training for a half marathon, I went out for chocolate and crisps. As I’d been working at the computer for most of the day, I decided to loop around by the old cemetery. Though it was evening, the birds were still singing as I came to the grey stone wall. No doubt they were confused […]

categories: reflections

Impermanence

February 3, 2016

In the co-ordinator’s office of the meditation centre where I’m volunteering, there’s a piece of wood engraved with the following: A beautiful day. It will not come again. As a call to appreciation, it seemed more urgent than carpe diem. This came home to me while looking out of the window of a bathroom on the […]

Downshifting: balancing your job, life, and your art

November 27, 2015

I stumbled on this old productivity post which, ironically, I never did anything with. I wrote it a while ago when I was preoccupied with getting it all done: work, writing, music, life: the full catastrophe. I’m not sure in all honesty how good I am at implementing these strategies. I have a more relaxed attitude […]

categories: reflections

The Hero’s Inner Journey

November 14, 2015

This morning I belatedly saw a connection between two ideas I’m interested in: the hero’s journey and attachment theory. The hero’s journey is a fundamental narrative that’s claimed to be at the root of all stories. It was proposed by the mythologist Joseph Campbell in books such as The Hero With a Thousand Faces. The theory goes that […]

categories: essays, journeys, reflections

Alternative productivity tips

October 14, 2015

Keep flowers on your desk. Do things when you feel like it. Open the window to feel the breeze and hear life going on outside. Try a ‘to do’ list of things you can do for others. Cut away the trivial but pay attention to the small.

categories: reflections