Tag Archives: Life

Relevant Complexity 2) Hobbies

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

Until last year I absolutely didn’t get ‘hobbies’. Now I am persuaded hobbies maketh the man. The big mistake in life, I reckon – observing overwork, depression and recession hitting even the most high powered of my friends – is … Continue reading →

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Relevant Complexity 1) The Spice of Life

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

My new theory of everything: all purpose and enjoyment in life is found in ‘relevant complexity’. I came to the idea via the Hungarian American psychologist Mihili Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of ‘flow’: that we achieve optimum experience when we meet considerable … Continue reading →

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Autumn Sunrise

Posted on November 16, 2011 by

On a misty morning With the kids in the car Turning left The surprise of a huge sun Low in the sky A silver gold blob Just too bright to stare at Not too bright to blind Heralds An emergent … Continue reading →

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Five Minutes

Posted on September 21, 2011 by

What is time? Judging by my day today, five minutes is the difference between happy and sad, frustration, tears, pressure in the chest cavity and making it just in time – or just too late. As Kierkegaard said, the demands … Continue reading →

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Sacre Bleu

Posted on September 19, 2011 by

A splendid weekend en famille à Paris was marred only by two extraordinarily slooowly served meals. I’d write Zzzzz. But with four children, from 4 to 8 years old, over an hour of waiting – each time – for any … Continue reading →

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Heaven and Hell

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

I read in the New Scientist a while back that people who’ve suffered near death experiences commonly have a sense of drifting out of their bodies, floating above themselves and being drawn towards brightness above them. Sounds heavenly. But according … Continue reading →

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London’s Burning

Posted on August 9, 2011 by

As a red London bus burns a few hundred yards from our house, it’s one of those moments when you stop and think, ‘Did I get this very wrong?’ We have always taken the view that the ‘cheek by jowl’ … Continue reading →

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Cold Start

Posted on August 8, 2011 by

I’m certainly not a morning person. Like a British Leyland car of the 1970s (of which we had a few) I start reluctantly with several turns of the key, a lot of choke and a deep shudder. My son is … Continue reading →

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Man’s Best Friend

Posted on July 31, 2011 by

Unprecedentedly, I’m home alone this weekend. I’ve cooked some tasty meals, listened to some absorbing cricket, cleaned the fish tank, sunk a few beers, watched some great films, done some washing, tidied up, been late to bed, lied in. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Death, Life | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Undiscovered Continent

Posted on June 25, 2011 by

I discovered a poem I liked by Emily Dickinson in a poetry anthology. Her words seemed fresh, direct and unaffected. So I looked to see whether she was still writing. A surprise then to see she wrote the words in … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments