How have your political views changed over time?
I would say my political views have not altered too much over time but my view of politics has changed greatly, and more recently that change involves fear and anger for where the world is heading.
For more gentle seasonal pondering go to.
Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.
The obvious answer would be my Dad. A quiet, clever man who avoided conflict and worked hard. He was dependable and wise, a man ahead of his time in many ways and out of step with the masculinity of his generation.
The bar was set quite high, but having a gentle father gave me a natural resistance to toxic masculinity in my inner circle. Such men are unavoidable in the real world, but I am lucky that the significant men that I have as friends and family are of the same calibre as my Dad.
What skills or lessons have you learned recently?
Rather a dry question for today’s Christmas Tree. But subvert it a little and ask.
“What new pearls of wisdom have you gained recently?”
My more romantic version of the question brings forth so much more inspiration for a well honed answer.
Pearls of Wisdom come in all shapes and sizes and in many different colours.
The pearls of wisdom I learned yesterday were all on the darker end of the spectrum. But they overlayed the pearls of the last few weeks that were much lighter and brighter colours, more joyful in every way.
“It’s all a part of Life’s Rich Pattern/Tapestry”
Never a truer quote and one that rings true every day. Gathering pearls of wisdom and adding them to life’s rich pattern is a skilled and valuable lesson. However uncomfortable those lessons may be at times
What’s your favorite cartoon?
A somewhat self-indulgent blog. I like to create poster art out of my photographs. I am currently one week into my first visit to Australia. All the glorious things I have seen or the gorgeous people I have had the pleasure of meeting have made this a memorable week. I know that future visits will never quite put my creative head in the same spin as this week’s first impression. This cartoon captures some of my swirling thoughts. Vivid colours. Expansive seas. First Nations art, whilst remaining respectful and without misappropriation. Awe. The first scintilla of a love affair with a new to me country.
What could you do less of?
What should or could I do less of? I have no idea.
Less is definitely more artistically, but as a lifestyle ethos I fear I would struggle to give up anything for very long. Even giving up chores or dull tasks might change life in a way that might not be comfortable. Floating imperceptibly from one Status Quo to the next suits me very well. Allowing life to dictate a path often works better than a rigid personal doctrine.
Plans have their place but serendipity often brings more enlightenment.
Slightly grotty weather and a desire for coffee drove us to an Artist Collective.
The Studio & Co. https://share.google/obOxuu9TDGIFxFUOR
The most delicious place to dodge the rain and be inspired to do more, not less.
My pondering head is ablaze currently, so much new inspiration, so much of everything in a new continent. Now is just not the time to be thinking of doing less of anything.
Even the trees in rain, spark a little twinkle in my soul.
What are your two favorite things to wear?
Sandals are my favourite things to wear and as they come in pairs, that neatly spares me from thinking of a second item. Which would be a hard task.
My feet are free spirits who dislike full enclosure at any time of the year. This year in particular my feet have prolonged sandal wearing until exactly this point when a very late summer holiday has taken us to Asia.
A dark November switched overnight to something warm and exotic. Sunbeams on my toes. They are somewhat tired toes, slightly puffy from a long period of travel but very excited to see sunshine.
My toes particularly enjoyed my evening bob in a rooftop pool. No anaesthetising chill forcing them into socks and boots, just a quick dab and they were ready to see the night.
If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?
What a perfect prompt for this morning. My head has had a very busy night whilst I slept on.
I have a fair bit of experiencing no sleep. Night shifts, 24 hour shifts and a head that gifts me insomnia when times are tricky. Hence the swan images. I am pretty good at appearing to float calmly while life throws me curve balls and incendiary devices. Under the surface though I am paddling furiously and not always in the right direction.
My head is a bit busy right now but I am sleeping well. But my dream world is very creative. Writing an in depth blog overnight that in dream world was rather good, in my opinion, but that I have no recollection of the details. In another remembered dream loads of paintings in shades of orange.
This more or less accurately answers the question. In a world where I didn’t need sleep I would be more creative.
But we all need sleep and a lack of sleep absolutely affects how creative I can be. However if the streets at night were safe for women I would walk more. Night walks in central London gave me some of the best experiences of walking through famous and architecturally beautiful streets without crowds. I felt safe in a way I could never feel in a provincial city or in the countryside.
So that just leaves me reading and nibbling. Great for knowledge, not so good for the waistline.
What’s the first impression you want to give people?
It is my birthday weekend so with more accuracy than is normal I can say I have been making first impressions for exactly 68 years and 2 days. Most of them are absolutely way beyond my control and because I have never been famous the first impression I create has almost never been recorded. There will be H.R records of interviews where my first impression has been recorded. Groups of friends will have anecdotal memories of first, second and third impressions. My point being that first impressions are largely out of my control. On occasions I may set out to make a favourable first impression but without feedback how would I ever know if I had achieved ‘favourable’. I think I am a bit of a ‘slow burn’ for most people. I try to be friendly, kind and effective with an open mind. I am loyal until I am not. I am not too invested in creating a ‘first impression’ because I genuinely believe that is largely beyond my control. However a ‘lasting impression’ has far more heft and gravitas. Something that is built up over time by doing my best to be a decent human being.
Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?
I can’t actually say, as I met either end of the scale professionally. Now for the famous end of the scale it is somewhat comforting to say that the most famous person I ever met was an entirely likable human being. What is less comfortable is that the most infamous person I ever met was also an entirely likable human being.
Along the way of life I have met all sorts, not all of them were entirely likable human beings. Maybe I was just lucky with my two extremes. Doughnuts have been used to protect the identities of the famous and the infamous. Humans and doughnuts are all a question of taste
How do you manage screen time for yourself?
Lets not talk about how I manage my screen time. Lets talk about the person who nodded off to sleep. Possibly reading one of my duller blogs and let their forehead nod or their finger twitch whilst reading a blog this week . 1,028 times! One blog a lot and a lot of blogs just once. Whatever were you thinking. U.S.A I am looking at you…
I am a pondering blogger with a small loyal band of regular readers. 50 Views is giddy. 30 exceptional. 20 about normal.
A few weeks ago someone fell asleep at the screen and I got 200 views on one day. My x axis had to grow, which is all well and good until life returns to normal and my 20-30 readers suddenly look like tiny blips wandering along the y axis. Readership returned to normal and my x axis shrunk accordingly. If returning to normal from 200 was a problem. It was nothing compared to this week’s landslide slippage.
So how do I manage my screen time?
Well I could write more blogs to keep up with my trending rise.
Or perhaps, more sensibly I could get out and about and find some normal low level ponders out in the real world. Once the giddiness wears off of course.
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