Tag: presence
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Distraction
Distraction: We live in distracted times. It’s a curse. It makes us scattered, unfocused, spread-too-thin. It deprives us of the joy of getting lost in something: a book, conversation, landscape, creativity. You can learn to focus better. I write about this in my book ‘Presence’. But before you ’force’ yourself to focus, observe your distraction.…
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Perfect moments: Finding beauty in the present
I sat last night in my kitchen. Wooden table and white wooden chairs. Outside the wind was, for a while, stilled. No stars. I live in a very quiet place. A few white houses. Fields. Some trees. Peat bog. Behind the house, beyond the hill, ocean. I hear the waves some days. A lighthouse up…
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Being Authentic
This is a workshop/talk I gave for School of Human Kind about What Actors Know
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Right here, right now, you’re good enough
A principle to live by Lack of self-confidence is brutal. Every decision is tinged with anxiety. Each step is hyper-vigilant. Any set-back triggers a confirmation bias response — ‘I knew I’d not be able to do this….’. Opportunities are problems. Challenges are defeats. One set-back wipes out ten successes. We’re told to change our thinking…
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Restlessness
The dark side of the imagination I’ve always been restless. It’s served me well much of the time. I don’t accept things because ‘that’s how they are’. I don’t accept ‘that’s how I am’ either. I ask ‘why?’ I ask ‘what about?’ (of myself and of the world). I wonder, mull and imagine different. Imagination…
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In fear, calm
Yesterday I had an angiogram. It’s a strange procedure. A tube is stuck into the vein in the wrist, pushed up the arm and across the chest. It connects with the heart. A large, white, sci-fi looking camera/x-ray manouvres across my chest — remotely controlled. There’s a large TV screen to my left dotted with…
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Finding Focus
Sunday was a tough day. My thoughts decided to gang up on me. I could have predicted it would be tough. I understand why. I’d plenty of ammunition in my thinking to stop it from being tough. Nonetheless, it was tough. I was distracted, unsettled, beset by demons. I’m about to launch ‘Hummingbird Wisdom; ‘How…