Deception Point

In Dan Brown's Deception Point, someone's motto is: 

Find the truth. Act on it.

Cool! 

Alan Watts on breathing

I like to listen to Alan Watts. Once, I heard him say something to the effect that the best possible practice he would recommend is for people to spend a year on their breathing. That didn't make much sense to me initially, but I now recognize that this a powerful means of retraining an overactive amygdala.

Fridays

Friday is vrijdag (without the capital) in Dutch. Free day. And so I once thought that on Fridays you didn't have to work.

I've decided to institute that policy. On Friday's I'll do exactly what I like. That's how I used to live life as a child, and I remember those days fondly.

At first I was about to devote this first day to refining and/or progressing my philosophy. But I approached it as a chore, and so the intention didn't sit right with me. 

It takes a bit of work and effort to live spontaneously, it seems. More practice required . . . every Friday.

2nd half of August, 2018

It all boils down to my having an over-active amygdala, I've decided. And so the only thing for me to do is to retrain it. That's all I need to do to solve my world's problems!

How nice to oversimplify things. Makes life a breeze, that does.

I have a briefcase devoted to self-organization. It is crammed with papers loosely sorted into sections. Every time I look at it my hands start to sweat.

I need to simplify what I do (hence my propensity to over-simplify). What say I leave my briefcase closed? What say I gradually build up a manageable, doable, routine that leaves me sane?

There`s more than one way to do life

Am reactivating this blog to help family and friends keep up to date with our family`s doings to whatever extent they might wish. This instalment: Travelling to Japan from NZ early April, 2011. The trip went well overall. Sachi was even more settled than six months ago; now at one-and-a-half she is a more seasoned traveller. We were pleasantly surprised to be farewelled at Momona Airport by about 10 Japanese mums with their children. Guys, you shouldn`t have, but your presence was much appreciated. (Tamami-san, we won $10 with one of the scratch cards that you gave us!) We stayed overnight in Auckland at a rather grungy hotel, but it was cheap. The tap in the bathroom failed, and the owner and son were busy working on the plumbing in the next room while we slept. The only travel hiccup was when the airline wouldn`t let me board the plane, as my return date was after my three-month visa. (We`d been told to apply in Japan for my spouse visa as it is easier that way. Tip of the day: it is never easy.) Managed to make another booking on the spot for June or July, which I`ll cancel. We spent a second night after an 11-hour trip to Tokyo, and then three hours later another 2-hour flight to Fukuoka. Took a taxi to the youth hostel and then the next day to the railway station. Six pieces of luggage mostly with wheels. It was doable . . . just. After the bullet train to Kumamoto, Mami`s mother and sister Rumi took us the rest of the way by car. The first few days in Uto City have been very quiet and pleasant with great spring weather. Our mountain bike takes me around wherever I need to go (to the library where I`m typing this for instance). I`m searching for a child`s bicycle seat for Sachi. I have books to browse and a stamp collection to sort. There`s a tape cassette player for my Berlize language lessons. And I came across the book Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman that I`ve already read and had left behind the last time we stayed with the Japanese grandparents. I think it was used for a recent film with Julia Roberts. And that`s where the title of this post--More than one way to do life--originates. I plan to explore the present journey in greater detail.

September 2009

I simply must inform you about last month's big happening. Sachi Jerika Lucas was born at 3.41 a.m. on the 17th September. She weighed 7 lb 1 oz or 3.22 kg. Everyone is fit and healthy and well. Slightly sleep-deprived, but.

February 2009

And just like that half a year has gone by since I last posted. Oh well, good intentions . . .

This month classes resume at Otago Polytechnic. After a year 'away' I have my own ESOL class once again. I look forward this year to resuming my student-centred, student self-directed focus. I've been struggling against the mainstreamflow to implement this approach for the last ten years. But now this paradigm is being pressed from on high (by the CEO no less) and so I dare to hope for a new dawn.

Is this the age of Aquarius?