A good neighbour is not someone you know but someone who stays close to you when others don’t.

Forgive the ponderousness of what follows. I am in that mood again! In that aspect of my character I sometimes talk like a preacher of holy text, though I am neither a Christian nor what one might call ‘religious’. However, it is to Biblical text I turn when faced with defining what is a GOOD … More A good neighbour is not someone you know but someone who stays close to you when others don’t.

The last of the ‘the first time’ I tried it syndrome.

What could you try for the first time? I have felt defeated by this topic for discussion and I turned to references to the ‘first time’ on the web. In large, and on an inspection of them that probably lacked rigour, the pages thrown up by both Google and Bing search engines seemed to fall … More The last of the ‘the first time’ I tried it syndrome.

Never let ‘ the good minute’ go. Find a thing to do and do it. The importance of not acting on desire.

What have you been putting off doing? Why? When I puzzle about an issue in my life I often turn to poetry for help. We live in a world where time is literally money and action matters more than reflection, which is too often considered passive. It is as if clichés like ‘time waits for … More Never let ‘ the good minute’ go. Find a thing to do and do it. The importance of not acting on desire.

To be adult or not to be? That is, in truth, not a question.

To be ‘grown up’ names, apparently at least, the end of a process of ‘growing up’ and like all ideologies buried in common terms, it assumes a teleology, in brief (though see the Wikipedia definition at the link by all means) a teleological process is defined by its outcomes and / or its purpose. If … More To be adult or not to be? That is, in truth, not a question.

‘I know both what I want and what might gain, / And yet how profitless to know’. A blog on the importance of your ‘reach’ exceeding your ‘grasp’.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for? All is silver-grey, Placid and perfect with my art: the worse! I know both what I want and what might gain, And yet how profitless to know, to sigh “Had I been two, another and myself, “Our head would have o’erlooked … More ‘I know both what I want and what might gain, / And yet how profitless to know’. A blog on the importance of your ‘reach’ exceeding your ‘grasp’.

Alcohol promises to enhance your life. In fact, it impairs the internal biochemical machinery with which to choose life as your primary goal. I decided to live clean of it. That machinery does repair.

What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself? To tell a story about giving up alcohol as a means of embracing life ought to be a humbling experience for the amount of self-congratulation for having made that choice needs the perspective of stories of people for whom this choice was both starker in … More Alcohol promises to enhance your life. In fact, it impairs the internal biochemical machinery with which to choose life as your primary goal. I decided to live clean of it. That machinery does repair.

If I love art, why do I find this an impossible question to answer?

Who are your favorite artists? Cooking is an art in which I do not excel. This picture irrelevant to the blog, although this was once my favourite artwork. The joke was devised by my room-mates in the 1970s at university. Art is a big part of my life and it is not as a maker … More If I love art, why do I find this an impossible question to answer?

Passing time is no trivial thing: how to respond to the ‘uncertainty of one’s existence’.

What is your favorite hobby or pastime? In a neglected novel called The Fugitives by John Broderick, he writes: But just as people will live on in houses demolished by a bomb, going through the ritual movements of everyday life; so Lily adapted herself to the uncertainty of her existence’. This is probably a strong … More Passing time is no trivial thing: how to respond to the ‘uncertainty of one’s existence’.