Our lifetimes are specks in the universe, but they are the longest and only spans of time we will ever know.*
Beth Pickens

As Rilke says: Hier zu sein ist so viel – to be here is immense**
John O’Donohue

Hello again.

My wife and I have just returned
from three weeks of visiting
our daughter and husband
in Australia. so I wanted to leave
three weeks of doodles and quotes
to mix with your daily activities;
The author of Atomic Habits
James Clear writes
The point is to master
the habits of
showing up.^

In the middle of my sixties,
I find myself increasing thinking about
the importance of this daily practising
of turning up;
In two months or so,
I retire from my university work,
And so turning up in this way every day
helps me gain perspective for
what I have, what I can do, how soon life is over, and so,
What matters most of all.

But it’s not only about showing up;
It’s about how we show up –
These moments must contain
transcendence,
And I will be increasingly
exploring and sharing
the importance of myth and story
over these weeks;
As Joseph Campbell reflects:
myth is the transcendent
in relation to the present …
A mythic figure is like the compass that
you used to draw circles and arcs in school,
with one leg in the field of time
and the other in the eternal.^^

I invite you to join me in this journey.

*Beth Pickens’ Make Your Art No Matter What;
**John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us;
^James Clear’s Atomic Habits;
Joseph Campbell’s Pathways to Bliss.