Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘from the dark room’ Category

The surface and the deep

Posted in from the dark room, perception, photography on June 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

sparkle and wave

light and dark

reflect and ripple

The surface of water always amazes me….it’s texture, it’s colour, it’s interaction with the light.

The deep always makes me curious…..what lies below?

Read Full Post »

The past, today

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, life, narrative, personal growth, philosophy, photography, psychology on June 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

I reckon we often think about time as a line. We stand at a point on the line and we call that point the present. Everything from the start of the line up to that point is the past. It’s behind us. And everything from that point to the end of the line is the future. It’s ahead of us. In fact, I’ve used just this idea many times in the consulting room.

It’s neat.

But it’s not a good model of reality!

Time in many ways is a more cumulative process. We grow, not by leaving the past behind us. Every moment emerges from the accumulated past. The past is always within us, always present. It’s probably more like the rings of a tree. Each day grows out of all the other days.

 

Emerging branch

 

Henri Bergson puts it this way, in his “Creative Evolution”

……the past grows without ceasing, so also there is no limit to its preservation. Memory, as we have tried to prove, 1 is not a faculty of putting away recollections in a drawer, or of inscribing them in a register. There is no register, no drawer ; there is not even, properly speaking, a faculty, for a faculty works intermittently, when it will or when it can, whilst the piling up of the past upon the past goes on without relaxation……..the past is preserved by itself, automatically……The cerebral mechanism is arranged just so as to drive back into the unconscious almost the whole of this past, and to admit beyond the threshold only that which can cast light on the present situation or further the action now being prepared—in short, only that which can give useful work.
He is saying that we select elements of the past (memories) which might be useful to us in the present. He’s describing something ideal there, explaining something about the mind, but it is really more complex than that, isn’t it? Quite often, it seems, some memory is evoked seemingly against our will, and without it being at all clear that its becoming conscious in a helpful way. But in those moments, in those experiences, we have the opportunities to learn a lot about ourselves.
To what extent do we operate on a kind autopilot ( a major theme of this heroes not zombies site ), with the past memories, habits, loops, paths, somehow running our whole lives?
Not that we can act without these influences. Here’s Bergson again…
it is with our entire past, including the original bent of our soul, that we desire, will and act
Just to put this in context, when he refers to our entire past, he includes what we brought into this world when we were born, not just our accumulated experiences of this life. One common fascinating aspect of that view is our common experience of behaviours and traits which we see in our children or ourselves which seem identical to those of certain predecessors….a father, grandmother, great grandparent, or some other relative who was never alive at the same time as this child.
We don’t have to operate only on autopilot of course. We can develop our understanding of ourselves, become more aware of our present moment, of our choices and why we are making them, and create some small spaces (the neuroscientist’s “necessary distance”) between what comes up and what we do……we can learn to respond rather than react, and in so doing grasp that opportunity to become the active author of our own story.
To become heroes, not zombies.

Read Full Post »

Change (or, becoming not being…..)

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, life, personal growth, philosophy, photography on June 16, 2014| 2 Comments »

Is change like a series of steps….

The Stairway to...

or a continuous flow, like a river….

river

 

Bergson writes, in Creative Evolution

The apparent discontinuity of the psychical life is then due to our attention being fixed on it by a series of separate acts : actually there is only a gentle slope; but in following the broken line of our acts of attention, we think we perceive separate steps.

So, reality is continuously changing. It really is a flow of becoming…….

Read Full Post »

The A to Z of Becoming. X is for…..

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, life, personal growth, photography on June 15, 2014| 1 Comment »

Sailing

In the A to Z of Becoming, I’ve chosen a different verb to focus on every week, starting with a verb beginning with the letter “A” and moving forward through the alphabet. We’re down to the last three now, and if you’ve been following this so far, you’re probably wondering, “what verb starts with an x?”

Well, I wondered about that for a quite a while too (wonder was last week’s verb by the way) and I reckon “xylophone” isn’t a verb, and while I could have chosen “X ray” (which you might think I would have done, given that I’m a doctor), I haven’t done that. I could have mused on looking below the surface of things to what lies on the inside, but I’m not doing that. I could have chosen “X marks the spot” and considered the “here” element of “be here now” – as in “x” marking the spot, right here, where we are now.

We rented an apartment on the outskirts of “Aix en Provence” for a few years, and if you know a little French geography, you’ll know that that beautiful town is pronounced “X en Provence”. That gives the locals a mass of opportunities to use the sound of the letter x at the start of words to describe some of the town’s attractions. I’m going to use one of those this week.

X is for Xcite!

Yep, I know that in English “excite” starts with an “e” but this week it starts with an “x”!

I want to look at this verb from two sides.

What, or who, excites you?

and

What, or who, do you excite?

Think about these questions and maybe take your notebook and see what you can list. When do you feel most excited? Do you feel excited very often? I think it’s wonderful to see little children bouncing with excitement. They are little bundles of energy and happiness in those moments. We lost that, don’t we? I’m not suggesting you start bouncing like a child (but if you want to, please go ahead and give it a go!), but I am suggesting you specifically ask yourself about “excitement” in your life. There must be something, or someone, you find excites you, even if not currently.

And, spend a little time too, on the question, what, or who, do you excite? I reckon we don’t think that way very often. We don’t often consider how we create excitement, where we create excitement, or who we create excitement for.

Go on, make this week a little more XCITING!

 

Read Full Post »

Bored?

Posted in books, creativity, from the dark room, from the living room, from the music room, from the reading room, life, music, personal growth, philosophy, photography, psychology on June 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

According to a government report workers who retire early risk “boredom, loneliness and poverty“.

Well, that’s something to look forward to, huh? Strange report – probably part of a fear campaign to try and keep people in employment for longer. What are they suggesting, actually? It’s better to retire later? Or that if you are working, even on a minimum wage, zero hours contract in your 60s and 70s you will avoid “boredom, loneliness and poverty”?

I suspect this kind of thinking says more about how we live than it does about the respective benefits of employment and retirement.

Funnily enough, I just stumbled over this quote from Goethe –

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I’ll be continuing to do that once I start my early retirement next month! And much else besides. I’m anticipating that the post-employment years will include lots of discovery, creativity, personal development and fun.

Meantime, here’s a little music

and a little poetry

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

– from Mary Oliver’s The Summer Day

and

Here’s a fine picture

glorious seedhead

 

Read Full Post »

sixes and sevens

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, life, photography, science on June 10, 2014| 2 Comments »

Any botanists reading this?

If so, what’s going on here?

Why do some of these flowers have six petals…..

Six

and some have seven…….?

Seven

 

Nature loves diversity

Read Full Post »

Spider music

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, life, perception, science on June 9, 2014| 1 Comment »

spider in web

web and castle

dew web

web

 

There’s no doubt that spider webs are beautiful, but spider’s silk is a very complex fibre which has remarkable qualities. It’s strength is legendary, but now researchers from Oxford, Strathclyde and Sheffield have discovered that one of the main ways spiders use their webs is, well, musical.

Most spiders have poor eyesight and rely almost exclusively on the vibration of the silk in their web for sensory information,’ said Beth Mortimer of the Oxford Silk Group at Oxford University, who led the research. ‘The sound of silk can tell them what type of meal is entangled in their net and about the intentions and quality of a prospective mate. By plucking the silk like a guitar string and listening to the ‘echoes’ the spider can also assess the condition of its web.

Dr Chris Holland of the University of Sheffield, an author of the paper, said: ‘Spider silks are well known for their impressive mechanical properties, but the vibrational properties have been relatively overlooked and now we find that they are also an awesome communication tool. Yet again spiders continue to impress us in more ways than we can imagine.’

Isn’t that amazing and wonderful? That spiders set and sense the vibrations and frequencies in the silk they weave to know how healthy their webs are, and to know, from the “music” of the web, what they have trapped.

Wonder!

 

Read Full Post »

The A to Z of Becoming. W for Wonder

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, from the music room, from the viewing room, life, music, perception, personal growth, photography on June 8, 2014| 1 Comment »

Wonder is one of my most favourite verbs.

I like the French word émerveillement which captures the essence of wonder for me. I think this is a great way to approach Life.

There are two aspects of the verb wonder which really appeal to me.

The first is to wonder in the sense of curiosity…….as in “I wonder what this is?” Here’s an example – “Is this a rock, or a tree? I wonder how these markings formed on this rock?”

 

rock weathering

The second is to wonder with a sense of amazement……as in “Wow! look at the patterns of the rock and the patterns on the stream, and how similar they are!”

rock waves

sparkling water

 

I would like to propose that an attitude of wonder increases the quality of your life, whereas, an attitude of scepticism, or nihilism…..hmm….well you tell me if you find those attitudes life enhancing.

Just as a wee bonus today, here is a great song about wondering…..

 

And, another bonus (well, it is my birthday!)

 

Read Full Post »

My trilogy

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, personal growth, photography on June 7, 2014| 2 Comments »

september learning

A recent article in The Atlantic considers the big changes in demographics particularly in developed countries over the last one hundred years. It includes the statement that

For the first time in history, most people now being born can expect to live seven, eight, nine or more decades.

As I’m going to be 60 (tomorrow – 8th June 2014) I found this statement, and the rest of the article, to be a bit of an inspiration. I recommend you click through the link above and read it. The main issue is that we have hardly begun to consider how society will change with this increase in longevity. Other studies look at whether or not these “added years” are “healthy” years but I think that’s an important, but separate, issue.

What I’m wondering about is how we might begin to live differently as we become aware of this change.

I’m thinking that my life is like a trilogy.

The first part of the trilogy, for me, takes me to about 24 years old. That’s the age I was when I graduated with my medical degree from Edinburgh University. That first part was about growing, learning, playing, maturing into adulthood. The second part has been my working years as a doctor, and as I’m retiring at the end of this month, that part is concluding right now.

So, Part 1 was 24 years long, Part 2 was thirty six years long, and nobody knows how long Part 3 will be. According to the figures quoted in The Atlantic it could well be something between the lengths of parts one and two. Wow! That’s actually a BIG part. That’s what got me to thinking about my life as a trilogy. Not all parts of a trilogy are the same length, but it’s not actually the length of this third part which interests me most. What really interests me is what will be the underlying themes of this Part 3, which begins in a month’s time.

I’m shifting my focus from working as a doctor to living as a writer. I’m shifting my focus from salaried employment with all that entails, to living on a pension. To finish the routine, expectations, and responsibilities, as well as the rewards and pleasure of working as an employed doctor is quite daunting and quite exciting all at the same time. One thing I’m SO aware of right at this moment in my life is that the one certainty is change.

We are all becoming, not being………

We are all able to choose to become heroes, not zombies.

Part 3……..how shall I start?

 

Feather

Read Full Post »

A second look

Posted in from the dark room, perception, photography on June 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bird

This isn’t what I usually do, but here’s the photo I posted yesterday. I wanted to show you it again to say something about using a camera.

I carry a camera everywhere, and these days many, many of you have cameras in your smartphones so you too will be carrying a camera everywhere too. I’ve heard some people say if you are looking through a lens you aren’t experiencing reality as it is. In other words if you are busy photographing what you are looking at, then you aren’t really seeing what there is to see.

That’s not my experience at all. Of course, I don’t walk around with the camera in front of my face. I look, I see, I notice, and then I photograph.

But what surprises me, and delights me, time and time again, is how once I get the photos loaded up onto my iMac and look at them on the big screen, I see things I really wasn’t aware of seeing at the time.

In the case of this photo, I noticed the bird on the stone when I was trying to photograph the reflection of the forest and the stone in the river, but by the time I focused the shot and pressed the shutter button, the bird had flown off. I thought I’d missed it.

But look! I didn’t miss it, and even better, even more amazing, you can see the reflection of the bird in the water as it flies off over the river!

Wonderful! And I really didn’t see that when I was in the forest.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »