We do not create ex nihilo. The world is not mute. It speaks first. We listen, and we answer. And in that breath between hearing and speaking – meaning is born.*
AleXander McManus

There was a back-and-forth here,
the divine and human,
in an endless conversation.
Like a dialogue.
Or wrestling match.
Or a dance.**
Rob Bell

My work is all about
conversations,
But now that I’m retired
I don’t have so many–
I miss them–

Lively life appears
in conversations–
With each other, with ourselves–
Especially with the universe
and god–

As we use it, technology draws lines
within the conversations we have–
More statement-like than dialogue–
Seeking to move
rather than touch one another–

A conversation
opens possibility
because we do not know
where it will lead us
or what it will produce–

*AleXander McManus’ Blue Moments;
**Rob Bell’s Everything is Spiritual.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

When someone is seeking, it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking…because he is obsessed with his goal…in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.*
Herman Hesse

For Blake and Swedenborg, the imagination was a faculty which could be exercised and strengthened, and which ultimately became a path to the land of vision.**
John Higgs

How big a gap is there
between the stuff you love
and want to do,
And the things
that take up your time?

If the gap is substantial,
You may want to stop focusing
and start wandering,
Noticing what you notice,
And why you’re noticing it–

There’s a time for both:
When you’re doing the stuff you love,
You don’t want to be wandering,
And when you’re not,
You don’t want to be focusing–

One is more measurable
than the other–
This can be why the gap appears,^
But we’re here to see you turn the ordinary
into the extraordinary.

*James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter: On thinking like a scientist, how to stand out from the crowd, and what wisdom looks like;
**John Higgs’ William Blake Vs The World
^Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s Ness Labs newsletter: Ness Letters: Motivation Drift.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

The story is a natural package for organising many different kinds of information. Storytelling appears to be a fundamental way of expressing ourselves and our world around us.*
Dan McAdams

We evolved words on top of our primordial ability to have feelings. Words allow us to be specific, to understand a situation more completely and to teach…Learn the words and then make the choice to use them.**
Seth Godin

Stories don’t stand still, they develop–

So I’m always looking for new words to add–

And sometimes even my favourite words need rearranging–

Then there are the words that I need to lose, as soon as possible–

A story unfolding–

*Dan McAdams’ The Stories We Live By;
**Seth Godin’s blog: Professionals know how to talk about it.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

Before you begin, you wanna do research? Uh-unh. I’m putting you on a diet…Research can become Resistance. We want to work, not just prepare to work.*
Steven Pressfield

What you need won’t appear until you need it.**
Oliver Burkeman

I’ll be ready if …
I’ll be ready when …

Not enough
is enough
when it opens all we have
around us and within us–

So we stay open,
We begin–
The unfolding adventure
better than planned–

*Steven Pressfield’s Do The Work;
**Oliver Burkeman’s The Imperfectionist newsletter: Things I’m Still Learning About Writing.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
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(Text from the adjoining page: We are fearfully and wonderfully made, a mystery wrapped in a question)

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.*

It’s about discovering with all that we are intended to be, with awe and wonder.**
Sunil Raheja

*Psalm 139:14;
**Sunil Raheja’s Dancing With Wisdom.

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SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

A plot-driven story calls for a protagonist driven by a desire that originated outside of himself; a character-driven story favours a protagonist who follows a desire that originated within himself.*
Robert McKee

Every so often,
I’ll be sharing
a portion of the images**
from my colouring book
Slow Journeys
in
the Same Direction–
You’re welcome
to print these
for colouring in–
Not quite a labyrinth
but they’ll slow you down.

*Robert McKee’s Character.

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THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

The act of focusing on what we focus on pays enormous dividends.*
Seth Godin

I saw that there’s no word for spiritual in the Hebrew scriptures…So basic, and yet so revolutionary. There’s no word for spiritual, because to call something is spiritual would be to imply other things aren’t.**
Rob Bell

I notice
what I notice and you notice
what you notice–

We are people
who see this
and it leads to that–

There’s more
to this world
than meets the first look–

You and me–
We’re going to follow
our look–

Staring–
Gazing–
Never glancing.

*Seth Godin’s blog: Paying attention to attention;
**Rob Bell’s Everything Is Spiritual.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

I keep a journal of failure and disappointment…Whenever something is really bothering me, I don’t just stew on it…I write it down in a few words what is bothering me…I reserve it for things that I’m genuinely worried and anxious about or that make me sad or angry…It is an extremely powerful technique called metacognition which means thinking rationally about my own emotions.*
Arthur Brooks

Stress and worry tend to be higher before you act. Without action, all you can do is worry. Once you begin, fear shrinks as you start to influence the outcome.**
James Clear

To write this down
is an action–

To open a notebook and place it ready
is an action–

To buy the pen and notebook^
is an action–

The thought or feeling
has some place to go–

One small action
will lead to another and another–

*Arthur Brooks’ The Meaning Of Your Life (Brooks leaves two spaces after each entry – returning after a week and a month to record the benefit that has come through whatever the painful thing is);
**James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter: On making the most of shortcuts, how to reduce worry, and the kindness of mastery;
^Digital is okay, analogue is best because of how the brain engages.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

The shape of our knowledge becomes the shape of our living; the relation of the knower to the known becomes the relation of the living self to the larger world.*
Parker Palmer

Two good places
for growing what we know
are here
and today.

*From David Brooks’ How To Know A Person.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

Dawdle (verb): 1650s, intransitive, “to idle, waste time,” perhaps a variant of daddle “to walk unsteadily.” Perhaps influenced by daw (jackdaw), because the bird was regarded as sluggish and silly. Not in general use until c. 1775. Related: Dawdled; dawdling, dawdler.

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SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO