Wow! Look at these! Aren’t they wonderful?
These are the seedheads of Anenome Japonica (thank’s Jane – I had no idea what they were!)
Amazingly, they’ve survived the weeks of snow and frost to get to this point in March. Resilience? Strength? Assertiveness? I think so…
Posted in from the dark room, photography | 1 Comment »
A zen garden in the garden. So, there’s this post in the garden, and somebody laid a stone on it a few years back, and now the moss has grown and…..well, just look….isn’t it beautiful?
Posted in from the dark room, photography | 2 Comments »
The World is made of Stories, by David R Loy [ISBN 978-086171-615-9] is a wonderful little book, full of memorable quotes about the place of stories in our lives. I read a lot about stories, as well as reading, and hearing, stories every day, but this book is a bit different because it’s written from a Buddhist perspective. I’m not a Buddhist, but it’s refreshing to read a different take on stories. Here are some quotes to give you a flavour of the book.
Like the proverbial fish that cannot see the water they swim in, we do not notice the medium we dwell within. Unaware that our stories are stories, we experience them as the world. But we can change the water. When our accounts of the world become different, the world becomes different.
and
The world is not composed of facts, because what counts as a fact is determined by the theory – the story – it is related to. Science is not primarily about discovering facts. It is about accounting for the relationships that make them meaningful.
I especially liked his references to the relationship between story and landscape, which is such a core characteristic of Celtic culture.
To the native Irish, the literal representation of the country was less important than its poetic dimension. In traditional bardic culture, the terrain was studied, discussed, and referenced: every place had its legend and its own identity…..What endured was the mythic landscape, providing escape and inspiration. (R.F. Foster)
and
Landscape is a palimpsest: a manuscript on which more than one text has been written, with the earlier writing incompletely erased.
Let me leave you with one more, perhaps the most appropriate one for this blog –
In the long run, whatever it may be, every man must become the hero of his own story; his own fairy tale, if you like, a real fairy tale. (P.L. Travers)
Posted in from the reading room, writing | Tagged narrative, story | 4 Comments »
The patterns on this bark look amazing. Not just the underlying pattern of the tree, but the strange markings on the bark itself. I don’t know what made this odd saw-tooth pattern, and I’d be tempted to say it wasn’t made naturally, but, hey, who knows?
Our brains are wired to spot patterns. We look for the connections between things, and we constantly try to match what we see to what we’ve already seen. There’s something wonderful about spotting the unusual, about noticing difference.
Posted in from the dark room, photography | 1 Comment »
I spotted this the other day……a discarded cigarette packet lying on the wall of a cemetery…..makes you think……so, did this…..
at the station the smokers throw their fag ends onto the end of the line…..just beyond the buffers. Wonder if they actually hit the buffers??
Posted in from the dark room, photography | Leave a Comment »
There are many interesting studies of the placebo effect which show the potential of a “chemically inert” substance to produce biochemical and physiological changes in a human being, ranging from the release of endorphins to the loss of hair in chemotherapy trials in volunteers given a placebo which they believe might be a chemotherapy drug. One of the most startling I remember reading was where medical students were given either a barbiturate or amphetamine. The former of these drugs is a sedative, and the latter a stimulant. The researchers switched the labels basically – they told the students who were given a barbiturate that it was an amphetamine and those who received the amphetamine were told it was a barbiturate. Amazingly the students experienced the effects of the drug they thought they were receiving even though they were swallowing the drug which should have done the opposite.
Here’s a more recent study which is just as startling. This shows that people taking part in a trial of painkillers experienced pain severity dependent on their expectation.
The volunteers were placed in an MRI scanner and heat applied to the leg at a level where it begins to hurt — set so that each individual rated the pain at 70 on a scale of 1 to 100. An intravenous line for administration of a potent opioid drug for pain relief was also introduced. After an initial control run, unknown to the participants, the team started giving the drug to see what effects there would be in the absence of any knowledge or expectation of treatment. The average initial pain rating of 66 went down to 55. The volunteers were then told that the drug would start being administered, although no change was actually made and they continued receiving the opioid at the same dose. The average pain ratings dropped further to 39. Finally, the volunteers were led to believe the drug had been stopped and cautioned that there may be a possible increase in pain. Again, the drug was still being administered in the same way with no change. Their pain intensity increased to 64. That is, the pain was as great as in the absence of any pain relief at the beginning of the experiment.
The MRI showed brain changes consistent with their reported experience of pain. In other words, despite receiving a powerful painkilling drug, when they were told the active drug wasn’t there, their pain increased – counteracting the “effects” of the drug.
This is yet one more study which shows that the placebo effect is a real effect – it’s not pretend, it’s not about just believing you feel better, it’s not the same as taking nothing. However, what really stimulated my interest in this study was this final quote in the report –
‘We should control for the effect of people’s expectations on the results of any clinical trial. At the very least we should make sure we minimize any negative expectations to make sure we’re not masking true efficacy in a trial drug.’
The “true efficacy”? What’s that then? The effect of the drug with the human taken out? The effect of the drug disregarding the subjective reality of the patient? What world is that? Is that the world you live in? Are there any humans who have no subjective reality? No values or beliefs? No inner experience? And isn’t pain, and pain relief, in fact, a subjective, inner experience? The “true efficacy” of a drug includes the placebo effect. The “true efficacy” of a drug is, in part, dependent on what the prescriber says and does. The “true efficacy” of a drug is the real experience of real human beings.
Posted in from the consulting room, health | 1 Comment »
March is named after Mars, the God of War, although, actually you could argue, that he was a symbol of military power for peace. I thought this was a good opportunity to focus on strength and assertiveness for the month.
I find that people commonly have disorders of the boundaries, or their defences. When it’s hard to say “no” then it’s hard to have the self-care you need in order to respond to the desires or needs of others. Learning to say “no” appropriately requires assertiveness (not the same thing at all as selfishness or the pursuit of self-interest). When we find it hard to be assertive, our boundaries are weakened and we can either become overwhelmed, or our defences can go “hyper” to our disadvantage, driving everything from irritability with others, to auto-immune reactions. It’s really not uncommon to find this is an issue in a patient with an autoimmune disorder.
By strength, in addition to assertiveness, I also mean the ability to stick at things, to be both consistent and persistent. It’s not so much a matter of trying to have power over others, or trying to control life, but more a matter of resilience, resolve and stamina.
So, why not take the opportunity to reflect on that this month? How do you feel about your own personal strength? Not your power over others, but your autonomy, your resolve, and your staying power……
Posted in from the living room, life | 5 Comments »
Our willingness to listen to music is a biological trait and related to the neurobiological pathways affecting social affiliation and communication, suggests a recent Finnish study.
The understanding of the “biology” and even evolutionary position of music in human life is something I hadn’t really thought about until I read Ian McGilchrist’s excellent, “The Master and His Emissary“. In that work he describes the theory that music was the precursor to language and that one of its unique functions was to develop and strengthen bonds between people in a group, and to communicate at a “feeling” level, rather than at a more cognitive one.
The particular issue of the relationship between music and bonding is explored in the way the right hemisphere functions, and how it has a major role in the appreciation of music, and in the forming of social bonds. This Finnish study refers to some very similar ideas.
Similarities between human and animal song have been detected: both contain a message, an intention that reflects innate emotional state that is interpreted correctly even among different species. In fact, several behavioral features in listening to music are closely related to attachment: lullabies are sung to infants to increase their attachment to a parent, and singing or playing music together is based on teamwork and may add group cohesion.
Rather less interesting (in my opinion) is their exploration of the genetic “associations” (although I was pleased to see this word “associations” rather than “determinants”) related to the appreciation of music.
Posted in from the reading room, music, neuroscience | 1 Comment »
You know that thing that happens where a noise stops and it’s only when it stops that you realise just what a noise it was? Well, I had a similar experience yesterday and today. When I went out for a walk yesterday this is what I saw –
No, I don’t mean Stirling Castle, I see that every day. I mean the blue sky! Look at it! Not a cloud in sight! Then as I walked to the railway station this morning it was so light I couldn’t believe it. I began to wonder if I’d slept in, or if the clocks had changed and I’d missed it. It feels like we’ve gone from weeks and weeks of winter darkness, just suddenly into Spring sunshine….
Posted in from the dark room, photography | Leave a Comment »
Another great post from Seth Godin
Great innovations, powerful interactions and real art are often produced by someone in a state of wonder. Looking around with stars in your eyes and amazement at the tools that are available to you can inspire generosity and creativity and connection. Anger, on the other hand, merely makes us smaller.
Posted in from the reading room, life | Leave a Comment »
