I recently applied to join an organisation which provides freelance writing services. Part of the application process was to produce a short essay answering a question about freedom. The question was this; Throughout history, men have been willing to fight and die for freedom. Why? It got me thinking. Really… Read More »Why Do People Fight for Freedom?
An Extra Day This week just gone by, I felt like I needed an extra day to get everything done. I was toying with the idea and wondered what such a day would be called. I settled on the rather boring name ‘Newday’, and decided it would come after Friday, and could… Read More »Being where you are and Incremental Improvement
Thanks mainly to a positive comment I recently found a YouTube Channel of an Amsterdam based spoken word artist called Vino Venitas. For one thing, it has reminded me of the creativity of exploring a poetic voice. For another, a certain video of his has inspired me to write about… Read More »Captain Your Own Ship : Never give up on your Friends
There is a deep-rooted idea that human life is separate to nature. It is an idea that’s become popular in many modern ways of thinking. Human Beings left the savannah and jungles long ago. The sweep of time has brought many transitions, from hunting to farming to industrialization. Now, our… Read More »Nature versus Technology – Mindfulness, Acceptance, Peace
No-self as a Concept Pretty much a decade ago, I read a book called ‘What the Buddha taught’ whilst travelling in Malaysia and the impact is still with me. While I’m not a practising Buddhist now, certain ideas have had a significant impact on my thought processes. Two notions, in… Read More »No-self : Interpretation of the Buddhist Idea of No Soul
Blue Monday Today is known as Blue Monday. This is apparently as it is roughly two weeks out of the festive season but still two weeks until the end of January. For me, I’m still catching up with people who I didn’t see during the winter celebrations, which is fun… Read More »Recognizing Good Fortune
What is effortless action? There are times in life when everything seems to flow by. One good experience after the other. A seemingly endless stream of positive and empowering experiences. The travelling lifestyle or University days seem to embody this sense of flow. During these episodes, it tends to be… Read More »Effortless Action (Teachings of the Tao Te Ching)
The older we get the more knowledge we have absorbed, the more mistakes we can learn from and the more experience we can draw upon to frame our outlook on life. It follows that a person’s level of wisdom should advance at a similar rate to their chronological timeline. High levels… Read More »Exploring Spirituality
The day to day experience of life has changed dramatically over the last two thousand years but the realities of human existence have not. Over the coming months, I will be working on an undertaking to convey what I think are important lessons from ancient oriental texts. What Lessons? I have… Read More »Lessons from Ancient Chinese Philosophy