”No matter how many years you sit doing zazen, you will never become anything special.”
— ‘Homeless’ Kodo Sawaki
“You never truly need what you want. That is the main and thoroughgoing key to serenity.
— Albert Ellis
I don’t know anything about tech but this made me smile Justfuckingusehtml
This month’s cult cinema club is showing Pedro Almodovar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown tonight.
I haven’t seen it since it first came out in 1988 so am really looking forward to it!
Not being bullied
At school I was a prime target for bullies. To avoid the inevitable I somehow managed to develop a way of evading them. I became invisible. I made myself disappear. I effectively suppressed myself out of existence in their eyes.
While I successfully avoided bullying confrontations I instead successfully inculcated a behaviour pattern that would fundamentally shape the rest of my life.
Although naturally introverted I added an extra developmental layer of passivity, quietude and avoidance. Instead of being present I retreat. Instead of standing up I remain seated. Instead of speaking out I stay silent.
I am grateful not to have suffered the direct consequences of bullying like so many of my peers but the bullies still managed to cast a different kind of shadow.
“Before I studied Zen, mountains were mountains and rivers were rivers. When I had studied Zen for some time, mountains were no longer mountains and rivers were no longer rivers. But now that I have understood Zen, mountains are once again mountains and rivers are once again rivers.”
— Qingyuan Weixin
‘TIL THE END
I’m not going to get carried away by my team, Sunderland AFC, making it to the playoff final at Wembley next Saturday.
They face a formidable opponent in Sheffield United and a win for us would be a remarkable achievement given that we’d lost all five of our previous matches prior to our semi-final victories over Coventry.
I was at Wembley with my son for another playoff final which we lost so I’m not tempted to get my hopes up. That said…
‘TIL THE END
Spent the day battling the garden and have the bramble scars to show for it! Exhausted but glad to have kept the effulgence at bay.
Such beautiful weather and another week of it forecast…
”I have been filled with hopes, fears, despairs, longings, happiness. Expansive moments, contracting moments. All of these fluctuations have at one stage been called ‘me.’
— James Low
The Assembly
Originally a one off on the BBC but now a series on ITV, The Assembly is currently my favourite TV show and the best thing I’ve seen on the box for… well, a very long time.
When a group of neurodiverse, autistic and individuals with learning disabilities interview celebrities, magic happens.
The first episode featuring Danny Dyer is a thing of great beauty. A rare example of a stereotypically, masculine ‘man’s man’ allowing himself to be authentically vulnerable and demonstrating great sensitivity. Very moving. It’s also hilarious too. I can’t remember a show where I cried with emotion and laughter within the space of a few minutes.
I’m not bingeing it (although I really want to!) but only watching one episode at a time, to savour it like a fine wine.
There are few greater pleasures than sitting in the sun, with a gentle breeze, favoured drink of choice in hand, watching the world and/ or nature reveal itself around you.
