Recently I had an email exchange with a reader who was feeling overwhelmed with the amount of email she was having to deal with. This is a common problem. Instead of being a useful tool, email becomes a monster that has us in its control. I thought it might be useful to post the thoughts … Read more
I’m taking you back a bit here. More than a decade, I think. It was the opening of a Borders store near where I lived in the Wirral, North West England. Shortly after it opened I visited to see what all the fuss was about. The new store was in the middle of a large … Read more
This is the latest poem written in the sequence I am currently working on. The sequence is called “Blue: experiments in sound” and it includes a sequence of poems and accompanying sound pieces. It should be finished within the next month or so: BOUNDED PEACE Of understanding I know nothing even when the wind blows through these … Read more
I wrote here about the idea of using letter writing as a method to tap into inner wisdom. It’s an approach that involves writing to someone who can help you and then drafting the response to yourself. This is what I wrote: Dear Stuart Good to hear from you. You know that I obsess about the morning rituals that get the … Read more
One of my writing projects that I am currently working on is a ‘Retreat Diary’ from the week-long retreat I did back in April. Here is a short extract from it: From Shantideva’s “The Way of the Bodhisattva” Just as the awakened ones of the past Aroused an awakened mind And progressively established themselves In the practices … Read more
I wrote recently about some of the ideas in “Accidental Genius” by Mark Levy. It’s a really inspiring book full of great practical ideas to get the creativity flowing. One of these ideas, which I was really struck by is the idea of a Writing Marathon. For a while now I have been using a … Read more
This blog post begins with a quote from James Hillman who I wrote about recently in my series of posts about people who “inspire me. “We need to recall that we do not just make words up or learn them in school, or ever have them fully under control. Words, like angels, are powers which … Read more
It’s nearly the end of April and I have read 24 books so far this year. That’s double the number I had read by this time last year. No, I haven’t been doing a speed reading course or only reading books that are no more than 20 pages in length! There are a number of … Read more
So, I had read “Care of the Soul” by Thomas Moore and found it deeply moving. It was a book about the nurturing of our souls in a world that alienates us. Moore had been a Jesuit monk, and has a doctorate in religion, and further degrees in music and psychology. He worked for a … Read more
Recently I have been revisiting some of the concepts developed in my PhD thesis 10 years ago. The text which follows is an extract from an unfinished article I wrote which describes the process I developed, drawn from Carl Jung, to develop archetypal characters. This was a core component of my PhD thesis and formed a key … Read more