Time goes slow

Time goes slow
When we look to the future,
Wishing we were anywhere but here.
Do we have the resources to fill the space,
Between what is and want we want -
Not by leaving this behind,
But by making now what we want?
It’s harder than you think to stay concentrated, keep yourself entertained,and not simply sleep through the greater part of life.
Try it.

Words…

Words can hint at depths too deep to swim,

Gulfs too wide for fragile man,

Lives too numerous for this heart

To beat them all;

Winter’s breath of sorrow,

Spring’s new born youth,

The juice of life freshly pressed

On the page for easy reading.

And yet…the void of our incomprehension calls;

Tears for that so far beyond us,

Like a child’s first glimpse of love

In the eyes of passing strangers.

Feelings, thought, intuition and sensing

Feeling is…

Geese hooting at the moon over water,

The gentle lap of waves on the shore

Thinking is…

Tilting scales on creaking chain,

Not a grain of sand is lost

Intuition is…

Sparks that fly from the fireside,

Eyes that stray to the stars

Sensing is…

Soil under feet,

Loamy taste of earth on fingers

What do books know?

A few books (15-4-2011)

What do books know?

They are a menu that will never be eaten,

Blood too dry to offer nourishment,

That is why my pen never stops,

Its words may speak to the soul today,

But tomorrow their best use may be toilet paper,

Humour or cynicism -

There can be little difference here,

So let’s share a beer and laugh,

At our misfortunes,

And keep the pen moving,

The blood flowing,

Our hearts emptying,

For to fill a thing we must first empty it -

Hope, yes take that if you wish

And hear my laughter,

Its interpretation changes day to day,

Up to down and left to right,

Let me be a poet, a scientist, a warrior and a womaniser,

Until the roles fall away,

And the pen bleeds out its cartridge upon the world,

And inky night claims us all,

Till then, write on

Concentration

A thin umbra of light,

All beyond is darkness, irrelevance,

There is only the now,

The fist, the blood and the pain…

And the joy, the unbearable, unbreakable joy

Of living,

In pure concentration,

This poem –

All that’s left behind

Techniques for getting ‘the mind’ on your side

image credit shoebuyblog.com

Life is chaotic and almost by definition will be full of strife. This is because as human beings we have an in-built need to find meaning in life. This is the great strength and great failing of mankind. If we find a great cause our life will be enriched. If we find something larger than ourselves, we can live and die fulfilled and maybe even make a real difference. But the downside of giving life this structure, of using our minds to build an edifice of dreams and expectations, is that we will inevitably feel let down at some point when things do not go as we want. The other aspect of this is that our minds have been trained both by evolution and since childhood to look for problems to solve.

For example if we are lying in bed and are uncomfortable we will alter our position to feel better. But after a short while we will often take for granted that we are now lying comfortably and find something else we need to ‘fix’. Perhaps our toes are poking out of the blanket and are cold. This process can continue indefinitely. This leads to a seeking negativity mind-set, a mental feedback loop that is constantly trying to correct what we see as wrong with the world.

To a certain extent this can be improved by understanding that we are a small individual in a large and changeable world, and will rarely have everything exactly as we would wish. The control freak in us must learn to let go. But there are also more direct techniques that will help:

1.   Never lose the gift of humour. No longer having a sense of humour is the first sign that you have lost your mental balance. In this condition important decisions should not be made.

2.   Another useful technique is to reverse the normal tendency to look for problems. Instead look for things you have missed but which make your life better. For example I am currently enjoying the incredible power and utility of the Internet to communicate with people across the globe! This should not be taken for granted. This is the gift of perspective.

3.    The last is to concentrate absolutely with what you are doing at the present moment. The effort required to do this is hard to sustain, but improves with practice and when achieved leads to a state where the passing of time is not noticed, for you are too absorbed in what you are doing to think about anything else. This is the gift of focus.

These ideas are not a prescription for enlightenment. They are not the one and only path to happiness. They are ideas that may help some people. They certainly helped me, and continue to do so, on a daily basis. When I feel down, or for some reason find myself in a negative mood I try to cultivate the mental discipline to apply the three techniques above in whatever order is most appropriate. Often for me it is – find something funny with the situation, look for something to be grateful about, and finally refocus on what needs to be done and do it with 100% concentration. Anything else is beyond your control.

The Red Fox Runs…

 

The light that shines too bright is no light at all,

Harsh, controlling, knife to the eyes that would see;

Negative, overexposed, a tyrant,

But deep in the wood a red fox runs,

Evading stumbling hunters

Who would rend it, shoot it,

Hang its dead carcass on the wall.

But ever its secret wisdom will evade them,

Down the rabbit hole to the deepest place,

Until the hunters woo their quarry he shall not be caught,

They must seek the fox within,

Now they hunt themselves.

 

Insights on personality

Image via Wikipedia

Carl Jung (26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961), whose ideas modern personality tests are based on, believed that in addition to our conscious persona – the mask we wear to conform with our own and society’s expectations, there also exists a large unconscious element, which itself has several layers. It was vital, Jung believed, that the separate conscious and unconscious parts of a person were integrated into a whole and complete individual, though he admitted the process was not easy.

During his extensive clinical experience he identified four main functions of personality, an observation he discovered was in agreement with many philosophers before him (think: air, fire, earth and water). Of these four functions, two he termed irrational – based on our perception of the world, and two he called rational, based on how we judge the world around us.

The two perceiving functions are: Intuition – this kind of person sees the big picture, the concepts and possibilities, and Sensing – where the person tends to be more precise, practical and present orientated.

The judging functions are: Thinking – where the person prefers to base their decisions on detached reasoning and logic, and Feeling – where the person is more informal and prefers to rely on empathy and association with others.

These descriptions are of course highly simplified but they can give good guidance and all fit together within a specific personality. To see how let us imagine a cross, with one line having a perceiving function at each end, and the other line having a judging function at each end.

The function at the top of the cross is called the ‘superior’ function, with a corresponding ‘inferior’ function at the bottom of the cross. So if a person is a Thinker, their so called inferior function will be Feeling, or if a person is a Sensor their inferior function will be Intuition. It is the superior function that this person will be most comfortable using and will do so consciously whenever they get the chance. It is the inferior function that they will have most difficulty with, and will often be completely unaware when this function comes into play or should be used. Imagine someone who is extremely logical and analytical. To them what is right is right, and it will often not even occur to them to consider how a particular action will affect others’ feelings. This is because the Feeling function is unconscious.

It now becomes obvious that in order to be a complete and well rounded individual they must address this ‘blind spot’. This goes for all the personality types, I have just used the Thinker as an example.

We have mentioned the top and bottom of the cross, which correspond to the conscious ‘superior’ function, and the unconscious ‘inferior’ function, but not the other line; the horizontal beam of the cross. In our particular example this would refer to the perceiving functions of Intuition and Sensing, which in this example play a supportive role. These may be partially conscious or unconscious depending on the person. For example our thinker may have a fairly strong sensing function, but a weaker intuitive function or he may have access to both or neither.

Finally to complete this rather sketchy outline of Jungian Types, we must mention a person can also be a Extravert – more focused on objects in the external world around him or her, or an Introvert – more focused on internal goings on within themselves.

If you are interested enough to investigate this further try out the very simple test at the following website. It may not be entirely accurate, but it should give you an idea of which is your superior function. Try to answer the questions quickly and without thinking too much about them.

http://similarminds.com/jung.html

There is no right answer! All types are as ‘good’ as each other. What matters is that we are interested in developing in all areas, and becoming an individual who can cope in all avenues of life;  someone who is not afraid to step outside their comfort zone once in a while to find out who they really are.