As I contemplated dropping my van to the mechanic this morning, I considered how I might get back home as fast as possible. I could get the missus to follow me in the family car. I’d save time, get more work done, achieve more than I would if I walked. Really? To what end? It’s […]
Society
Have We Mistaken A Shiny Penny For The Sun?
As I sit here tonight, it’s Saturday night and everyone is in bed, I give thought to the phrase; mistaking a shiny penny for the sun, and I can’t say where it comes from. It says a lot in only a few words, so I thought I’d expand on it this week. It highlights the folly in materialism, of capitalism, and of the pursuit of one’s self in the world of things. I says I’m a fool, but
Too Much of A Good Thing
It’s interesting. The old saying “too much of a good thing” is prominent for me at the moment. From the extra condition that sits around my waistline, to the over-enthusiastic tendency towards political correctness, and the cultural upheaval the US, collapse from the peak of excess seems to be an unavoidable condition of the human […]
A Return to Craft Based Work
We don’t know how to use our hands and our bodies any more. We can’t make things, practical things. We don’t know how to grow food, to fix a roof, or build a wall. Some of us do, but many of us don’t. A return to making things by hand could be a route to that change, greater meaning and purpose, and a happier life.
How Quiet It Has Become
Their song It seemed louder and deeper than before. Like as if every branch of every tree held a blackbird. Someone told me that because there is so little traffic on the roads and less human activity generally, it means the birds can complete their entire song, not just a small part.
The Anti-Business Model
I lay in bed last night, and as per usual, I was thinking about work. I had been watching a Noam Chomsky lecture on capitalism and the social order earlier in the evening. I wondered how each of us can go about creating work that matters, something that brings value to ourselves and others without the overbearing and often manipulative motivation to meet market need. I thought, how about…
A Time To Fight
It seems to me, that when others require your compliance, be it for what they consider the greater good or indeed their own good, they are prepared to forgo their humanity. The rules, bureaucracy take precedence.