Now, it’s a basic mythological principle, I would say, that what is referred to in mythology as “the other world” is really (in psychological terms) “the inner world.” And what is spoken of as “future” is “now.”* Joseph Campbell
We are not made wise by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.** George Bernard Shaw
What many think of as the present is the past, whilst others know that what is too quickly dismissed as the future is now; The latter form a space or ritual to slow down their thinking, their speaking, their actioning, to be able to hear what-can-be before filling the moment to overflowing: In their intense meditation the hidden sound of things approaching reaches them and they listen reverently while in the street outside the people hear nothing at all.^
Today we don’t have the stasis that is required for the formation of a mythic tradition. The rolling stone gathers no moss. Myth is moss. So now you’ve got to do it yourself, ad lib. … We’re all without dependable guides.* Joseph Campbell
We are all haunted by something deep inside of us, and often a lot of our best work is the result of us trying to come to terms with that.**
Our existence lies within two worlds: The ordinary world of everyday things, And the special world of meaning and significance.
This is far too simple a way of describing our worlds, for which I apologise, It is a starting place only.
Who am I? is an ordinary world question that has an inkling there is more to life than meets the everyday eye; When asked in the special world, this question becomes Who is my True Self?
What can I do with my life? is another ordinary world question that is altered when asked in the special world, becoming What is my Contribution?
These questions arrive with us from Theory U, but I have connected them for some time with Joseph Campbell’s diagnosis that we each are in need of two myths: One that is personal and the other social.
The problem is that we struggle to shape our necessary stories in our fast-moving, noisy busy ordinary worlds, And we are constantly frustrated that this is so (How many of us have wanted to find the answer by the close of the podcast we have been listening to, Or the final pages of the self-help book?); We must enter our special worlds that very much feel to be interruptions.
Peter Senge wrote of systems-thinking that many problems do not lie in the obvious or reinforcing loop of the system, But rather in the hidden or background balancing loop; Attending to this takes more time and attention, And so it is often put off or ignored.
What Senge’s systems-thinking highlights is that our most important questions cannot be properly dealt with in our ordinary worlds, rather we must find and journey into our special worlds; I mention their plurality because these are different for each of us, though they contain similar questions and challenges.
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.^^
The Laters sit in cafes sipping coffee and discussing the possibilities of life. The Nows note that with infinite lives, they can do all they imagine.* Alan Lightman
There is always enough for everyone, if you share it properly, or if it has been shared properly before you got there. There is enough food, enough love, enough homes, enough time, enough crayons, enough people to be friends to each other.* Fairy Godmother
In Asia and the Middle East, as well as in an early example of Western manuscript painting, the words and painting together made the whole picture.* Jan Steward
Carry around a pad of white paper and a fine black pen, and everywhere becomes a place to doodle.
I enjoyed standing in line waiting to be served, even got a chat about doodling with someone.
In Greek the word for ‘the beautiful’ is to kalon. It is related to the word kalein which includes the notion of ‘call.’ When we experience beauty, we feel called.* John O’Donohue
Choosing what we rehearse is a way of choosing who we will become.* Seth Godin
The colour from my “Find Hone Use” doodle had bled through the paper, So I thought to use it as part of doodling about what lies on the far side of our daily practices.
THIN|SILENCE 
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