Comforting Thought: Shyness is your friend

Shyness is the exquisite and vulnerable frontier between what we think is possible and what we deserve. Without shyness it is not possible to understand the new. Total confidence in a new phase of life means that we are misinformed and mistaken – about what is going to happen and what we are about toContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Shyness is your friend”

Comforting Thought: The Awkward Swan

“You need something to which you can give your full powers. The swan doesn’t cure his awkwardness by beating himself on the back, my moving faster, or by trying to organise himself better. How does it by moving towards the elemental water where he belongs. You only have to touch the elemental waters in yourContinue reading “Comforting Thought: The Awkward Swan”

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #54

Haere mai and welcome to another action-packed edition of 10 Interesting Things, I hope you have packed warm and light because we’re about to mount a rescue mission for your mind, so that you can crack a smile once again. Get your crampons on your feet and get ready to bivouac with some langurs upContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #54”

Comforting Thought: Loneliness is a doorway to belonging

Loneliness is a place from which we pay real attention to the voices other than our own. Being alone allows us to find the healing power in the other. The shortest line of an email can heal, embolden, welcome home and enliven the most isolated identity. Lonely human beings are lonely because they are madeContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Loneliness is a doorway to belonging”

Book Review: The Book of Life by Alesha Sivratha

Alesha Sivartha’s enigmatic 1898 book The Book of Life: The Spiritual and Physical Constitution of Man, combines mysticism, sociology, theosophy, art and culture into a unique philosophy. Other than the obscure and bewildering ideas in this book, the illustrations and diagrams of the human body, mind and spirit are otherworldly and amazing. Sivartha was a manContinue reading “Book Review: The Book of Life by Alesha Sivratha”

Book Review: The Signature of All Things

Genre: Historic fiction Publisher: Penguin Random House Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 *No spoilers Elizabeth Gilbert is best known for her world-wide best-selling autobiography Eat Pray Love which was about her own journey of self-discovery, spirituality and travel. This girl’s own adventure was music to the ears of many young women who were already embarkingContinue reading “Book Review: The Signature of All Things”

Comforting Thought: Be the humble apprentice of life

What we recognise as honesty in an individual is actually the humble demeanour of an apprentice. Someone who pays close attention to themselves, others, life and the next steps they will take. Someone who does not have all of the answers but who is attempting to learn what they can. Someone who is just likeContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Be the humble apprentice of life”

Comforting Thought: Laugh a lot and often. At yourself in particular

Laugh a lot and often. At yourself in particular. There’s no better weapon against sorrow, dullness and monsters found along the way. Life can be good, and we only have one go at it. A lot depends on what we do with it. googie mccabe

Comforting Thought: The Five Precepts of Buddhism @jhalifax

“When I am not clear what road to take, I might ask myself: ‘What would Buddha do?’ This is not to ask the impossible of myself. Rather, it is a reminder that the seeds of freedom are already in me. My vows water those seeds, and this seemingly innocent question has helped me to avoidContinue reading “Comforting Thought: The Five Precepts of Buddhism @jhalifax”

Ancient word of the day: Algorithm

The ancient Muslim empire in the city of Baghdad was the birthplace of the word (and the concept of the) algorithm. In the year 820 AD, a Persian genius named Muhammed ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi created the concept of the algorithm and algebra in an ancient book called Kitab al-Jebr. The book Kitab al-Jebr (later latinisedContinue reading “Ancient word of the day: Algorithm”