Author: stevendouglasblog

Born in 1954. Chequered career including Lecturer in English, Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work. Had breaks related to mental health that also meant I worked in social care. Now retired.

‘Be near me’: A good neighbour is one of those near to me who are willing to be still closer.

October 7, 2025

‘Be near me’: A good neighbour is one of those near to me who are willing to be still closer. I will keep the English spelling of neighbour that is not used in the prompt question, that question having come from the United States who dropped the ‘u’ in words ending ‘-our’ long ago. However, … More ‘Be near me’: A good neighbour is one of those near to me who are willing to be still closer.

Can ‘principles define how you live’ if you live in the world as it is. This blog looks at this by examining a recent (and edited) play text of George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Mrs Warren’s Profession’, which we see live-streamed on 23rd October at the Gala Theatre Durham.

October 6, 2025

Can ‘principles define how you live’, if you live in the world as it is. This blog looks at this by examining a recent (and edited) play text of George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Mrs Warren’s Profession’, which we see live-streamed on 23rd October at the Gala Theatre Durham. Geoff and I will be seeing this play … More Can ‘principles define how you live’ if you live in the world as it is. This blog looks at this by examining a recent (and edited) play text of George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Mrs Warren’s Profession’, which we see live-streamed on 23rd October at the Gala Theatre Durham.

Reluctant and resistant. Moi? The double bind of therapy.

October 5, 2025

Counter-transference is more common than we think. Acknowledged and worked with it is a positive tool. But it happens most in encounters where the therapist is too inexperienced, or neither reflective, reflexive or self-unaware to notice it. For anyone who has been in a therapeutic encounter as either a therapeutic practitioner or person seeking assistance, … More Reluctant and resistant. Moi? The double bind of therapy.

Maybe we all put off exposure to the moment of disappointment. Is it because we doubt the reality of our espoused passions? This blog tests that view by exposing my anticipations of the Lee Miller retrospective to be seen on October 21st 2025 at Tate Britain.

October 4, 2025

‘Putting off’ is a relative thing. It is as likely that we ‘put off’ even things we know we will do, either because we must or because we are driven by the pain that reality brings as much as by the pleasure of fantasy in the yet unrealised event in the future. This blog tests … More Maybe we all put off exposure to the moment of disappointment. Is it because we doubt the reality of our espoused passions? This blog tests that view by exposing my anticipations of the Lee Miller retrospective to be seen on October 21st 2025 at Tate Britain.

Violence: How should we respond, and how do we respond? The tragedies about to be born out of inappropriate and thoughtless response.

October 3, 2025

Violence: How should we respond, and how do we respond? The tragedy born out of inappropriate response Above are the bare facts of the violence that occurred at Heaton Park Synagogue m Manchester. People died as a result not only of the violence of one man (and others if others backed him up) but also … More Violence: How should we respond, and how do we respond? The tragedies about to be born out of inappropriate and thoughtless response.

The appreciation of art is not a matter of ‘personal choice’ or ‘favour’; it is a duty. This is so not only for its maker but its reading, for reading is, in part, co-making.

October 2, 2025

The appreciation of art is not a matter of ‘personal choice’ or ‘favour’; it is a duty. This is so not only for its maker but its reading, for reading is, in part, co-making. Duty, of course, does not exclude personal pleasure if it does exclude banal ideas of choice between pleasures. The quotation and … More The appreciation of art is not a matter of ‘personal choice’ or ‘favour’; it is a duty. This is so not only for its maker but its reading, for reading is, in part, co-making.

What is the worst that might happen? Is it the fear of failure or to hope that you might eventually fail, and to dread failing to fail.

October 1, 2025

What is the worst that might happen? Is it the fear of failure or to hope that you might eventually fail, and to dread failing to fail. An infographic from Verywell Mind website detailing the signs and symptoms of a ‘fear of failure’: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-fear-of-failure-5176202 The title I give this blog may sound like nonsense? No … More What is the worst that might happen? Is it the fear of failure or to hope that you might eventually fail, and to dread failing to fail.

‘The departed are yet to arrive / … / but the roads are all laid out: /’ There is no ideal time to pay more attention to the details past than the death that inevitably defines a ‘life’ and picks out its salient meaning. This is a blog referring to a first reading of Simon Armitage (2025) ‘New Cemetery’.

September 30, 2025

‘The departed are yet to arrive / … / but the roads are all laid out: /’ [1] There is no ideal time to pay more attention to the details past than the death that inevitably defines a ‘life’ and picks out its salient meaning. This is a blog referring to a first reading of … More ‘The departed are yet to arrive / … / but the roads are all laid out: /’ There is no ideal time to pay more attention to the details past than the death that inevitably defines a ‘life’ and picks out its salient meaning. This is a blog referring to a first reading of Simon Armitage (2025) ‘New Cemetery’.

Though I do not, some queer people need God to validate their being and their capacity for love! It has taken me decades to understand and accept that. This is a blog on Harry Tanner (2025) ‘The Queer Thing About Sin: Why the West Came to Hate Queer Love’; a book about a lot more than than that however.

September 29, 2025

Though I do not, some queer people need God to validate their being and their capacity for love! It has taken me decades to understand and accept that. This is a blog on Harry Tanner (2025) The Queer Thing About Sin: Why the West Came to Hate Queer Love, London, Bloomsbury Continuum. It’s a book … More Though I do not, some queer people need God to validate their being and their capacity for love! It has taken me decades to understand and accept that. This is a blog on Harry Tanner (2025) ‘The Queer Thing About Sin: Why the West Came to Hate Queer Love’; a book about a lot more than than that however.

Having is less than Being and Being is less than Doing!

September 27, 2025

I have always felt the words of the New Testament contained the truths by which we could and perhaps ought to live – and continue to respect them whilst being in a state of absolute non-belief in the existence of a god, or gods. Recently as I thought about this question I again came across … More Having is less than Being and Being is less than Doing!

‘Let you in? What like “in” in? …// “With” us? that’s not possible / But, beside us, that’s “doable” / ..’ A place ‘in the mountains’ or, as it truly is, ‘in the margins’. The drama of being put ‘out of place’. This is a blog anticipating seeing ‘Bacchae’ by Nima Teleghani, ‘after Euripides’.

September 25, 2025

‘Let you in? What like “in” in? …// “With” us? that’s not possible / But, beside us, that’s “doable” / ..’ A place ‘in the mountains’ or, as it truly is, ‘in the margins’. [1] The drama of being put ‘out of place’. This is a blog anticipating seeing Bacchae by Nima Teleghani, ‘after Euripides’. … More ‘Let you in? What like “in” in? …// “With” us? that’s not possible / But, beside us, that’s “doable” / ..’ A place ‘in the mountains’ or, as it truly is, ‘in the margins’. The drama of being put ‘out of place’. This is a blog anticipating seeing ‘Bacchae’ by Nima Teleghani, ‘after Euripides’.

What could I do more of? I could allow art and ways of seeing it to challenge me more: a preview of what I expect from the ‘Theatre Picasso’ exhibition at Tate modern, which I see on October 21st 2025.

September 23, 2025

What could I do more of? I could allow art and ways of seeing it to challenge me more: a preview of what I expect from the ‘Theatre Picasso’ exhibition at Tate modern, which I see on October 21st 2025. There is nearly always a debate these days – though perhaps there always was before … More What could I do more of? I could allow art and ways of seeing it to challenge me more: a preview of what I expect from the ‘Theatre Picasso’ exhibition at Tate modern, which I see on October 21st 2025.