Lovely post, as always, from Mike Farley at An Open Ground.
“Part of the trouble, it seems to me, is no more than the nature of mind itself. The self is not a settled thing, not a captain on the bridge of the mind; thoughts, feelings, longings, identities even, come and go according to circumstances, or else merely according to the restless patterns of internal weather. Nothing is fixed; intention is only a word, a flickering across unsteady waters.”
“I don’t know… I think I’d like to say only that they (children) should learn to be alone and try to spend as much time as possible by themselves. I think one of the faults of young people today is that they try to come together around events that are noisy, almost aggressive at times. This desire to be together in order to not feel alone is an unfortunate symptom, in my opinion. Every person needs to learn from childhood how to spend time with oneself. That doesn’t mean he should be lonely, but that he shouldn’t grow bored with himself because people who grow bored in their own company seem to me in danger, from a self-esteem point of view.”
It’s become very clear that my mind is incapable of thinking geo-politically or in terms of Realpolitik.
“Reality does not need to be solved. It does not require a conclusion. The mind may demand answers, but life itself moves effortlessly without them. In the absence of rigid knowing, there is an openness - an ease that was never dependent on certainty in the first place.”
Looking forward to this. So many comedy heroes, particularly Chris Morris. Imagine
“Why is it that so few people follow their own star? Why is the star such a heavy burden? Because following your own star means isolation, not knowing where to go, having to find out a completely new way for yourself instead of just going on the trodden path everybody else runs along. That’s why there’s always been a tendency in humans to project the uniqueness and the greatness of their own inner self onto outer personalities and become the servants, the devoted servants, admirers, and imitators of outer personalities.
— Carl Jung
If we really, really accept and embrace the reality of our finitude, our death; then our being, our aliveness needs no reason, explanation or identification with images of selfhood. We can simply be whatever arises free from doubt and fear.
Few things have upset me as much recently as seeing Trump and his henchmen ambush Zelensky in such a ruthlessly cruel, calculated and premeditated attempt to publicly belittle and shame him. Tiny, weak and frightened cowards, the lot of them.
“Thoughts are natural events that you do not possess, and whose meaning you only imperfectly recognize.”
— Carl Jung
Controversial/ contrarian opinion alert!
Care is more important than love.
I’ve seen so many people suffer unnecessarily both on the giving and receiving ends of love.
Care not so much.
A price is being paid by millions simply from one man growing up with wealth, privilege and opportunity yet brutalised by his father. The weaponisation of psychological and emotional wounds…
What a world. Went to bed last night having watched a tiny, frightened, weak and cowardly bully throw a tantrum with his fingers in his ears while a strong and still adult looked on bewildered and bemused. And then I wake up to a dawn of such pristine beauty…
Went to a new meditation session this evening at the local yoga centre. Really good. Non-prescriptive, gentle guidance in a beautiful setting and well attended. Will definitely go again. Shame it’s only once a month at the moment. Fingers crossed for weekly.