Category Archives: books and learning

quote on the effect of prayer

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Quoted in Seeking the Sacred: Transforming Our View of Ourselves and One Another
from Hazrat Inayat Khan on theEffect of Prayer

He is as large as he thinks himself, as great as he thinks himself, as small as he thinks himself. If he thinks he is incapable, he remains incapable; if he thinks himself foolish, he will be foolish, and will remain foolish; if he thinks himself wise, he will be wise, and become wiser every moment; if he thinks himself mighty, he is mighty.

Now in my qoute journal

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Tuesday tiny: Orwell’s view of my writing

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I listened to George Orwell’s: Politics and the English Language as read to me by my computer. He may not like this blog much! However, we do agree on this:

In our age there is no such thing as “keeping out of politics.” All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred,……..

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Travels to the 70′s

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I’ve had a quiet few days since getting back from Orange. I found the whole coach thing great as my previous post explained. It was great to have an opportunity to look out the window at the world going past. The fuss level of the coach company was nice and low — although it was clear they were a bit rusty about the wheelchair. It was nice to feel it wasn’t my fault.

The connecting train while still a bit bone rattling was better because the vestibule where I was parked was wide enough that I didn’t have to move everytime we pulled into a station, so I got a whole section of Stephanie Dowrick’s Seeking the Sacred: Transforming Our View of Ourselves and One Another, which is actually lovely and already hot off the presses in Australia. I’ve finished the section on “reverence” and can feel the everyday experience, of observation and stillness changing because of it.

From the very profound to the not so, I had 5 hrs of board meetings on Tuesday followed by my second Christmas party of the season (another early night — although there is a photo of me no doubt dancing the twist!) Most of the rest of the week has been spent hiberating watching of all things The Brady Bunch on YouTube.

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The sacred solution? Stephanie speaks

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From Stephanie Dowrick’s new book “Seeking the Sacred: transforming our view of ourselves and one another”:

The qualities needed to meet our most urgent social and environmental crises are the same as those we need in their communities and homes. They are the same as those we need to heal our personal suffering and lessen our confusion. Concern, connectedness, the dignity, forgiveness, patience, tolerance gratitude and inclusive intelligence: this is what the world needs. This is what we need.

Love it. Love the connectedness that she makes you think about. I think I also love the fact that she still sees it possible to improve society and the planet by improving the connections.

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Memories: friendships from my cul-de-sac

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This sentence from a book I’m reading struck me though I’m not sure whether it’s reflective of the content of the book yet.

“I picked up my glass and smile. I thought to myself, I’m glad that I live in a cul-de-sac. There’s something safe about a cul-de-sac. You can see everything when you leave near the far end of a cul-de-sac.” Caryl Phillips; A Distant Shore

I think I can relate to this sentiment very well. I grew up in a cul-de-sac, indeed at the bottom of the cul-de-sac. Near the path that led straight to the primary school that I attended.

It was a very safe place to grow up. The neighbourhood I mean. We had God-fearing people on either side of us (though they have different interpretations of God). I wonder if I’d feel so safe saying that now. Kids rode pushbikes in the middle of the road at least until we got to the main street. There was a park next to our next-door neighbours. It wasn’t much of a park, but it had the cleanest concrete path I had ever seen and it gave me freedom. Perhaps similar to the freedom other kids got on their pushbikes.

We knew our neighbours in decreasing degrees of intimacy based on proximity to our front door. It was friendly, my brother and I each had a particular friend. Mine was next door and was quiet and reserved enough to not find my lack of mobility a handicap to our friendship. She had her own “point of difference”, a religious one, which being a curious child, and coming from a religious family I was fascinated by, but only remember grilling her about it twice which was big for me. Her name was Robyn. I miss her, though over 20 years later I’m now not sure what we’d have in common.

I was excluded but I don’t think it was because I used a wheelchair. That felt better, because I couldn’t help my family’s religion and neither could she. The exclusion was broader than just me. So ironically I felt more included by their very exclusion that I did in many other places. Although there was a front step, which would have made it difficult to get into their house, it wasn’t the front step that prevented my entry. We were Uniting Church. They were Plymouth brethren. It was that simple.

My neighbours taught me more in those two years about religious freedom, by being neighbours and friends within the bounds of their beliefs. Why is it we talk about fundamentalism more than we talk about friendship in our neighbourhoods?

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When silence isn’t golden and a movie review

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My apologies folks for my lack of blogging. It feels like it’s been a long few weeks, but when I review I’m not sure what I’ve done exactly except have a birthday party or two. I’m doing okay.

So, after the craziness of Sunday’s birthday celebrations I got to do a little bit of armchair tourism in the form of a darkened movie theatre and “Eat, Pray, Love”. It was actually very nice to let a movie wash over me like this one did–but give me enough to really think about at the same time.

The scenery was lovely, particularly if I’m biased the stuff shot in Italy. Perhaps that’s because I liked that stage that Liz took–the replenishment stage and yes the socialisation that comes along with food. As well as being honest enough to accept the weight gain that goes with it! It gave me a rare craving for spaghetti Bolognese last night.

It certainly wasn’t heavy as far as movies go but as I sat there with FM quietly considering after the movie and sipping drinks inspired by Bali (at least in our own mind), I contemplated the lessons if any without any desperate need to hold onto them.

Normally when things like that start to fade around the edges of my memory I tried desperately to hold on to them. Somehow not this time. I feel sure that the experience of the movie has planted the seed of whatever in my head and I will go from there.

I have a small desire now to buy the book, but am wondering about just leaving the movie to be a movie.

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Wet heat

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Backdated written in the early hours

Sat in a bookshop (Sappho) with tapas and a glass of wine tonight. Meaty and rich meatballs with a perfectly proportioned raspberry sauce – jam like, and chicken skewers.  It was home like, very real and just what “the doctor” ordered for me. There was comfort too in sitting in a bookshop with old books, not just the new shiny ones. A bookshop proud of its neatly hand-printed labels which remind me of  my fathers’ draftsman writing.

It is a cafe and even though I can’t as yet get beyond the 2 seater wooden table at the front (complete with polite but pointed note to likely try and prevent folks especially I would guess students from the nearby uni from camping there all day with laptops), I am confident that all the conversations was informed by the wisdom of the rooms air.

And now? Perched showered and not quite feeling clean in front of the gas heating diligently pumping out enough to leave the metal of my chair too hot and too pink but my shoulders are tight with the cool air.

I hear rain on the skylight of a reassuring weight. Here to stay.

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Book review: The Girls by Lori Lansens

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Historically I could divide this blog into two topics: the “disability” stuff and the “book” stuff. This book is a novel about disability, so I’m covered both ways.

While it was at times a challenge to get through the book. pacing more than content, I find myself with the book now finished and paid forward I miss Ruby and Rose Darlen: known to all as The Girls.

The Girls is a novel written as the autobiography of both halves of a set of conjoined craniopagus twins who turn 30 during the course of the book. As with real autobiographies, it is a review of their lives – mishap or miracle – in light of an uncertain future.It is a desire to leave a legacy that is each of their own making, and in whatever way possible a private one.  Each sister has her own distinct voice and story to tell. In turns I found myself want to slap each of them especially when one is mean to the other.

It is a cleverly written book. I forgot more than once that it was a novel. The medicalness and the physical aspects are described up front and then left alone as fact — very realistic. The characters – even the sketchy ones are very well drawn being evolved at a variable pace as you would meet  people in any town.

Pacing varies but is largely good and at one point as one sister gets bogged in her own self indulgence crawls. But that made it real. There is good continuity.

It was sad, without being morbid and at least from my perspective very funny. It isn’t a book about their disability but about their lives, loves, losses and fun.

So that’s what I’ve been reading,

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Season of bookishness

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It’s a season of books for me with a couple of reviews in the works. Book shops are my friend – soothing and friendly. Without the need to buy, although now I am. Books I haven’t been able to find in one bookshop have been there to envelop me in another.

I discovered a gift voucher from three years ago that miracle of miracles was still valid, by virtue of the sheer age of the card — they have upgraded their cards so the newer ones — more recent than one year have an expiry. How strange. With it from Borders I ordered a book I’ve heard as an audiobook but now want to hold. called The Trusted Advisor (seeing as that seems to be what I’m doing now…). The audio was good but it refers to lists and tables and maybe I’m just old-fashioned! I want to hold the book. I’ve also bought a book on running a consultancy )again seeing as that seems to be what I’m doing now.

It was a lovely bookshop, well-lit, wide enough aisles to park and not feel like a blockage, clean but cosy enough that there were more than a couple of folks very much asleep on couches which no-one minded and teenagers reading children’s picture books in discussion groups but with the mild awe of a library. Fellow book lovers and accessible. This last point re-inforced by several other folks with apparent impairments floating just as seamlessly and buying.

I’m just saying, again. If you build it ……. they will come and spend.

If you don’t build or create to disable ……. everyone will be more comfortable.

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