Slices of Bookshop Life

A therapist with a patient on the couch, walks through the mind of one. A person visiting a bookshop walks through the writing mind of hundreds.

Comradeship – two parts cocktail and one part empathy.

Nature is kinky. It’s human nature that is conventional.

Ideas pollenate only the human flowers that position themselves to opportunity.

Some big companies colonise spaces where ecosystems fear to tread. Such companies replace grand & land with brand & sand.

Corporates set prices the way lawyers split hairs. Finely and relentlessly.

In a bookshop today, I saw a book titled’ Fashion Trends’. By the time its published, its actually ‘Fashion History.’

 

Truth, justice and the superhero way…

Do the right thing and be slated?

We can’t prove we are decent, honourable and innocent people. Every day of our lives is a new test. All of us can be mis-read, misunderstood and mistaken. And sometimes are.

‘No good deed goes unpunished’ appears to be a well-worn saying.  Our political leaders falter and in doing so, set the tone. Even religion encourages forgiveness for sin. And it expects sin, not sainthood.

Athletes in a sport racked by doping become guilty by association, in a dramatic trial by media. People can be unwittingly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Too-perfect beauty or sound must be from plastic surgery, photoshopped or auto-tuned, we tell ourselves. Employees working from home apparently can’t be trusted by some employers to be productive. Good people can be framed, or their identities stolen. DNA evidence can be planted. Company reputations appear only as good as their last action, not their decades of service, contribution and value generated.

Do we punish uncertainty, even when the right thing happens?

Financial auditors, medical test technicians, oil drillers, weather forecasters, medical imaging experts and structural surveyors can sample and pass opinion but not guarantee certainty. We settle for their professional opinion, only as the lessor of two evils. Insurance assessors can estimate probability, but not guarantee outcome. We pay the premium but resent the price.  Juries can look for court evidence that is beyond reasonable doubt, but hate the process, rarely finding a perfect set of evidence, or witnesses (I know, I’ve been that juror). Human relationships survive on moral premise,transactional trade, love, blind faith and simmering trust in the meantime.

Added to the potent mix above, education is effective in training us to be critics and sceptics. But does it do enough to inspire all of us to be the best we can be? Shaping us to be critics and sceptics does make progress a bumpy ride for all those lining the journey.

I grew up in no man’s land…

 

I grew up in no man’s land. Like a tumbleweed, buffered between the winds of passion and ability.

I grew up in romantic no man’s land. Walking a mostly solo journey of uneven landscape, uncertain distance and mist opportunity.

I grew up in no man’s land. I followed a well-worn gorge, but somehow climbed to burst through the cloud and see sunlight above.

I grew up in no man’s land. Pegged out to dry between the pillars of doubt, insight, opportunity and action.

I grew up in no man’s land. Somehow dodging the bullets of bullies and the trophies of leaders alike.

I grew up in no man’s land. Always wondering if the landscape itself could be more noble. More enduring and more certain.

I grew up in no man’s land. As uncertain as the landscape was, it’s now become a blue water ocean under my all-too-small surfboard.

I grew up in no man’s land. I had youthful invincibility. A thirst for broad-strokes adventure and a body to match. Now I have the wisdom to pick my journeys, conserve my strength and recognise the subtle beauty I find along the way.

I grew up in no man’s land. Now smiling, I grow old on my own small, purchased piece of the World.

Keep Calm and Carry On…

Keep calm and let humanity’s hopes dawn.

Keep harm at bay and let your kids carry on.

Keep calm so romantic love can carry on.

The ideal human shape

Humans can be short, providing they’re pithy.

Tall in their goals,

Bursting their seams on actions,

But thin on detail – as long as they get the headlines right.

Words direct from the keyboard

  

Hiding

in plain sight

is insight,

for those

with the foresight,

to bring

their thousand yard stare

into cross-hair focus.

________________________________

Lust to Love

lust

lost

lose

love

White

 

When grains of white dust gather randomly on furniture, it’s a curse.

When grains of white dust gather in artificial lines, it’s illegal.

When grains of white dust gather randomly on beaches, it’s magical.

Cornwall Poem

 

How many ways can you say nautical?

The windows of the fishing villages in Cornwall,

Say them all.

The fresh-caught fish,

Ancient piers,

And beached boats,

Surround us with reminders of the sea.

It brings life and vitality,

To invigorate locals and tourists alike.

And makes Cornwall the place to be,

For at least as long as we have the Cornwall house rented.

True belief

True Belief 1

True belief flickers like the weather.

At times, sun beams burning off the fog of doubt.

At times, the blast of ocean wind brought forth onto fresh landscapes.

Or a thousand droplets of rains cleansing the accumulated muck off brass.

 

True Belief 2

True belief is self-belief, but also it’s the belief in love.

Finding a reconciliation between trusting your partner to guide you and listening to your own emotions of fear and doubt.

The man who can’t be moved

Life’s journey is best experienced with those you love, but has to be walked alone. You can carry children in your arms some of the way. And hold hands with your partner as you walk. As you walk, you can reflect on the advice your parents gave you, high-five your friends, give directions to strangers, dry people’s tears, wave to rivals and onlookers alike. And keep checking if the money in your pockets is growing or shrinking.

As you walk, what you cannot do is retrace your steps. To take back what you said to someone at the last crossroads. Or retrace your route, to spend more time with the people you loved in your life, who are no longer walking their journeys. Time is the steady companion, that keeps a solid beat to the marching rhythm of your journey. Learn to enjoy and take strength from the journey as best you can. That’s the essence of being human…