In Search of Solace.

I have painted this little person again. No distractions this time of little birds just the thought of what this person is doing. I painted it in a larger format and made some other changes as I wondered the answer to my question. What is this person doing, and where is he/she going?

I had a very busy day yesterday many things to do and today looks like an equally busy day ahead.  One of the things I did was play a round of golf with my son. We decided to be a little bit competitive but in a friendly way.  As we headed ever closer to home he was still that one hole in the lead. 

He was one hole up at the turn and feeling good, playing good golf. 

It was then he made the biggest mistake he has for a while. He said to me, "If I win this it will be on your facebook page tomorrow. I went on the win the last four holes and the game. I am sure he learned a little lesson.

So back to my little person. 

We live in disturbing times and days. Trouble is all around us and war and the threat of war seems everywhere. We seem to be returning to an age of isolation taking back control and being Great again. I find it all very disturbing.

But there are still places and times when in the midst of it all we can find some peace and tranquillity.

We need to rest from the trials and tribulations. We need to stop the striving of being in the world and take advantage of what is on offer in nature.

Last night it was the peaceful sunset when the sun of the day became reconciled with the horizon and there was a sense of peace in the air. At other times it may be that little secret place or that chance encounter with a little copse of trees and the promise of a moment of comfort. 

Such moments of stillness can become so precious, the voice of the rushing stream we were to busy to notice before. It is possible to be so tired and worn out that we forget that each of us needs time to recharge.

Renewal is a profound tonic it gives us the strength to return to the day and be prepared to travel the onward path.

Maybe my little person is on the way to such a place or returning from such.  The little drops of rain bringing a refreshing sense of moment.

Have a marvellous day. 

Having a Diary.

I can remember the days when the most important app on my phone was the diary. I used it for meetings, days I was due to be sitting in court, marathons I had signed up to run and many other such like events.

I retired and life began to slow down. My art began to play a more important part in my life and I did not need a diary for that. Most of the things I had to attend to I could easily store in my head. Then the old me began to take over again and I had this to do, that to attend to and my wife began to tell me to get things in my diary. Not only that she also wanted me to let her know when I was due to be somewhere when she might need to use the car and such conflicts.

I was back in the busy zone and the older one gets the more complicated life can become. It is fine saying you will be somewhere and do something remembering to do so get s more difficult. 

All of a sudden each day is again filled with activity. I am not alone in this. We rush around from one thing to the next. We make arrangement for the future. These things take on an importance, but they are not all that there is to life. How easy it is to forget this.

We should not allow these things to divorce us from the other things that hold a place of importance in our lives like those around us.

It is dangerous to allow our days to be dictated to by a diary. It is imperative to withdraw and reflect upon the events of the day and collect ourselves for the continuation of our path.

This withdrawal does not need to be in a sacred place or time or require elaborate ritual. All we need is a simple turning within. As the sage says, "Take time to return within to the inner self." Time to stop and take stock and renew oneself ready for the flow of life. There is a place for activity but not at the expense of equilibrium. 

Yes, I will make a note in the diary but never again will the diary be permitted to take a hold of me. 

Go with the flow but withdraw to oneself. I thank my good friend Maxim Maw for his little nudge and a reminder of this truthful fact.

Have a marvellous day.

What is it that attracts you?

I sometimes wonder when I am out there walking why nobody I ever walk with other than my son exclaim about the beauty that surrounds them. 

I was walking yesterday and my wife commented on the new growth showing on the seemingly dead ferns. Just a passing comment but the day before I had already taken a number of photographs because I was aware of the importance of ferns in just such a state. The Maori people of New Zealand give these opening spikes a spiritual meaning. They see in them a beauty and fashion jewellery inspired by the forms and shapes. 

Nature and its constant changing bring an infinite sense of wonder. To those open and ready to experience there is one endless equation of darkness, light and colour. This is further enhanced by sounds like the wind through grasses and the fragrance and brilliance of flower and tree.

The peacock attracts a mate through his plumage as does the Goldfinch with its enhanced breeding colours. The flower puts on a display that artists try time and again to emulate. They attract the bees and achieve the aim of continuing the spread of its plant.

I saw and heard a bee as it hurried on its business and got lost in the thought of being at one with it.  Beauty attracts and the bee is urged towards it is lost by its seduction of aroma and sight. It performs a dance of seduction. The dance brings others they hover around the plant drunk in the thrill of fragrance.

We likewise if we take time to notice can also be moved to smell and touch to fill our senses with their wealth.

The bee moves ever inward in search of the nectar of life. Once it finds it moves onward in further search spreading the pollen of life.

We are daily surrounded by this ongoing life and death and life 

So much of this wonder goes unseen as we walk past accepting what we glance at and take it all for granted. 

Nature whispers to us day by day moment by moment. At the centre of each flower, there are a stillness and calm. If we but stop a while and drink in the pleasure of such beauty we will find deep within ourselves a calm and peace that we can often miss.

Peacock iridescence in feathered fans,

Red blooms of beauty in the noonday sun.

Nature gives a swirl of colour,

And touches the inner being with its peace and calm.

I reflected much as I tried to capture this wonder and peace as I strove to catch the beauty of this one flower on today's blog. 

I hope I have managed to convey some of it to start your day. Have a happy smiling day nature has already started its summer show. 

Aim for the stars.

I was asked the other day there what my ambitions were. I thought for just a short moment and replied, "To be able to get out of my bed tomorrow morning."

I can remember the days when I would have had a much better and further reaching reply to such a question.  I was never short of ambitions. That is to say, after I left school I was never short of ambitions, sadly I never had them when they might have done me most good.

The trouble with my later ambitions was that they took over my life, I had a blinkered vision and the latest desire took over my being.

Some say that we should not have ambition, they only lead to the passions of greed and lust and then bring on unhappiness.

I can fully understand where these people are coming from and how they are thinking but I cannot fully agree with them. There can be nothing wrong with have individual interests and a desire to learn certain things and reach certain goals.

If this does not cause harm to others and does not lead to a neglect of the needs of others they should be pursued rather than suppressed. 

Many a person is held back from fulfilling lives desires by parents and elders. Sometimes to protect the person from being harmed by failure. My mother used to frequently say to me to know my place and not fill my head with useless ideas. 

In his book Facing Loneliness, J. Oswald Sanders writes, "The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth is but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache. A millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience." 

Sanders goes on to emphasize that being successful often fails to produce satisfaction.  He then goes on to give some examples of ambitious people who have failed and ended up chasing shadows.

After 74 years I am still of the opinion that whatever you want to do do it to the fullest. 

There are one or two provisions.

First, you must remember that nothing is forever. How often I have chased an ambition only to prove that once I got there it was no longer really important to me.

Second, you should not allow ambitions to determine your life. It is far too easy to lose sight of humanity and caring concern for those around you.

Finally, you should always remember that ambition should always lead to the eradication of fears and bring a sense of calm and peace. 

Chase ambition with these things in mind and you will discover the path to a fulfilled experience. 

Have a marvellous day.

In the face of adversity.

In the face of adversity find strength. Now speaking about adversity I seem to have had more than my share of it in the last little period of life. 

It all began with the snow and the ice, I slipped while out walking one day and gave my shoulder a real bruising bang. The next day Moving it anyway at all was very painful. I was somewhat restricted in what I could do and kept forgetting until the pain shot up my arm to remind me. 

Just as it seemed to be improving I got the flu. Getting over that I was looking forward to some pain-free days if not longer only to find a way of jarring my arm once again.  

From bad to worse it went. I was out weeding my garden and bent down to grasp a dandelion only to bump my forehead onto the branch of a Buddleia that I had recently cut back. The branch burst open my forehead and left a painful bruise. 

Now if that was not enough I slipped two days ago bursting open my arm which had to be stitched and is now black from hand to elbow. The nurse who stitched and dressed it says that she is sure I have been living with a broken shoulder. 

The woes and toils of life. 

I will say this for adversity,  people seem to be able to stand it, and that's more than I can say for prosperity. 

But let us not get down and begin to feel morass. 

Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 74 years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness. 

The learning has brought me happiness but it was not the happiness that brought the learning. I am sure every artist knows that to create a half worthy artwork there has to be at least three or four that one is not happy with and the lessons of errors learned. 

So adversity we have but, and it is a fairly large but, there is a positive side to even this.

Problems often provide us with greater opportunities. 

Problems can promote our spiritual and physical maturity.

 
Problems prove our integrity.

Problems produce a sense of dependence

 
Problems prepare our hearts for a life with a sense of empathy for the troubles of others.

Have a wonderful day and mind how you go. 

Cometh the Day.

I met up with a friend I had not seen in a number of years. I say a friend but in fact, she was my first official boss in the teaching profession. My boss yes, but still a very dear friend and it was wonderful to see her again. 

We had many a laugh over the memories shared and the chatter about the intervening years. There was one thing she had in common with so many others of my friends. Actually, she was the second person yesterday to tell me not to say the D, word.

On this blog, I have often said that we never know the day or the hour, so let us make the very best of what we have.

In reality, I hardly or ever speak about Death because I am far too busy talking about life.  So having been stopped from saying the word twice yesterday I say it today when nobody can stop me from saying it. 

So for those of you still reading let me mention some thoughts that put it in context.

When you're old as I am, there are all sorts of extremely pleasant things that happen to you. One of the most pleasant is that you wake up in the night and you find that you are half in and half out of your battered old carcass. 

It seems quite a tossup whether you go back and resume full occupancy of your mortal body, or make off toward the bright glow you see in your inner eye. 

A few days before his death, Dr. F. B. Meyer wrote a very dear friend these words, "I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered that place. 

Don't trouble to write. We may meet in the morning." 

Somebody who learned a great lesson from being exposed to the reality of death was Alexander the Great.

Seeing Diogenes looking attentively at a parcel of human bones, asked the philosopher what he was looking for. 

Diogenes' reply, "That which I cannot find, the difference between your father's bones and those of his slaves." 

There is nothing morbid about the topic of one of life's greatest realities, in fact, for some, there may even be an opportunity.

"Here lies Jamie Smith, wife of Thomas Smith, marble cutter. This monument was erected by her husband as a tribute to her memory and a specimen of his work. 

Monuments of the same style 350 pounds sterling." 

Another way of saying the words I say fairly often are the words on this topic of Thomas a Kempis. I have paraphrased it.

You ought so to order yourself in all your thoughts and actions as if today you were about to die. Labour now to live so, that at the hour of death you might rather rejoice than fear. 

Rejoice indeed, if you are reading this you have the possibility of a wonderful day ahead.

What a view.

When you look at the painting above in its simplicity you could very easily, if asked, list what you see in it. A man in a boat, a branch of a tree,  the moon, water, and two little birds.

I say this because I was remembering the day I took my son and his friend to visit a nature centre out in the wild country. It was not really, it was not far from where we were living in our caravan for a long weekend break.  It was, however, a nature reserve and boasted a great many animals and birdlife. 

The attraction for young people was that it also had a treetop walk, one of the first.  Once up among the treetops, it was possible to see for miles, if you could lift your head from looking down to make sure you were safe. 

Having got up there I looked out and was amazed by what I was seeing and how far. I exclaimed to the young lad friend of my son, "Is that not marvellous, what a wonderful view." He looked at me and responded, "it is just a few trees and mountains.

I suppose we see what we want to see and frequently skim and see very little.

The person who described the painting above like the list I gave was correct, that is what you see. But there is more if you take the time to look.

I often ask myself when I am looking at something, "Would that description stand up in court?"

There is a moon with darker shaded areas that could easily be the continent of America North and South. The branch of a tree reaching down towards the water. It is very much like a winter branch having no buds or leaves. It has two sets of two branches out from the main which in turn thin to further stems. Sitting on one of those are two small birds purple in colour with orange beaks and sparkling white eyes.

There is a boat with a man dressed in a red tunic standing at the stern of the boat it has a mast with a little red pennant flag and a rolled up white sail. The man is holding two oars which are reflected in the see. There are some hints of ripples in the water and the signature of the artist.

I could go on to tell you about the owner of the signature but I think I have made my point if not laboured it. 

It all depends on what we see and how we look and in that hangs a great deal.

Let me tell you a true tale.

When the 1960s ended, and the hippy period was put to bed in San Francisco's the district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. 

They didn't name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually, Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school. Seems we are moving back to such names in some circles.

That's when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them goodbye and send them off to school on the bus.

So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy's name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it.

"Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?" they offered. And later, "Fruit Stand, how about a snack?" He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn't seem much odder than Heather's or Sun Ray's.

  

At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. "Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?"

He didn't answer. That wasn't strange. He hadn't answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn't matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children's bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. 

The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word "Anthony."

Had the person who read Fruit Stand been more aware she would have noticed that was the name of the bus stand and the boys name was on the other side.

Look see and learn. Day by day a myriad of beauty opens up before us, take a look experience and enjoy. Stop and make sure you are in fact enjoying it to its full and not just seeing a boat in the water.

Have a sightful day.

I need to accept.

There is a prayer that that goes thus:

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change.

courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,

enjoying one moment at a time,

accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.

These words have helped many in grave difficulty to face the morrow with courage. It is never simple to accept that there are things in life that we cannot ever change We often have ambitions to move in a certain direction but something just stops us from acheiving that ambition. We make plans for the future to find that the things of life mean that those plans need to be put aside.

Often this leads to anger and frustration. The wise sage tells us to remain silent in such situations and continue to go about the preparations for the next moment of living.

Accepting that we are not in control of everything does not mean we have surrendered to fatalism. it does not mean giving in to some sort of sense that we have no hand in what will happen next.

It does not mean accepting that we are helpless beings For example in times of drought the wise prepare by storing whatever water is available. Sensible actions for difficult times. On the other hand, such people will not plant flowers that require much water. That is ignorance and big headedness.

Acceptance of reality is not doing nothing it is seeking to learn what is needed and acting accordingly.

A young man had achieved much in his life that had been recognised by many. He was proud of what he had managed to accomplish and began to live in the glory of his accomplishments. He gloried in the many tributes that came his way. 

Yet with all his accomplishments, he has missed out on something crucially important to him, his father's acceptance and recognition that what he has accomplished is valuable. he just could not understand why his father had not joined in the praise of his good fortune. 

He went to his father one day and had a candid discussion with him. he asked, "Father I have achieved so much in my life. What more do you want ?"

His father looked at him and in deep thought said, "Someday you will look back and say, "I could have done more."

His father had indeed been proud but saw that his sone had not learned the difference between what could be changed and what could not. His father saw that he could have gone on to even greater things had he had the wisdom just to reflect for a moment and know.

The sage says So long as one's deeds are in accord with the time and one does not leave sloppy traces, the actions are right.

 The above painting is my third attempt to paint Lao Tzu. I find while listening to his words having some face before me helps my understanding of his teachings.  Maybe I need to learn to accept the things I cannot do and change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Have a wonderful day.

Music the harmony of life.

I was given a years subscription to the digital concerts of the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the best gifts I have ever been given and thank my family for the pleasure it has brought.  I have access to live streams of all the concerts as they happen and if I miss I can catch up through the archives.

I told somebody about this and they said to me, "Not as good as the Beatles."  A matter of opinion and taste and not a value judgement I would venture to make. You cannot compare a Monet to a Van Gogh, but again that is just an opinion.

There are so many things in my life that have over the years brought me a deep sense of joy and meaning. Which is the greater? I would struggle to say or to explain.

The joy of watching the peacefulness of fish swimming the comfort of the serene look on the face of a Buddha. The stirring melody of music. Each in its own way brings a sense of wonder and harmony.

The strange thing is this, as a boy, I had no love for classical music, I dreaded the two periods of art lessons every week, and the very thought of anything of a spiritual nature was a large NO.

I was inspired to try painting later in life and thank with all my heart the person who suggested it. I remember listening for the first time to a classical record and give thanks to the person who suggested that particular piece to listen to on my own in the quiet. I will never forget the person who suggested that there was more to life than what we see and hear with the eye and ear. That there was a whole new world that could only be experienced with the inner being.

My first classical record purchase was Beethovens 3rd Symphony an expensive gesture on my part but it has paid me back one thousand fold.

By the age of 5, Beethoven was playing the violin under the tutelage of his father, also an accomplished musician. By the time he was 13, he was a concert organist. In his 20s he was already studying under the very watchful eyes of Haydn and Mozart. In fact, Mozart spoke prophetic words when he declared that Beethoven would give the world something worth listening to by the time his life ended. 

As he began to develop his skills, he became a prolific composer. During his lifetime, he wrote nine majestic symphonies and five concertos for piano, not to mention numerous pieces of chamber music. Ludwig van Beethoven also wrote sonatas and pieces for violin and piano. 

He has thrilled us with the masterful works of unique harmony that broke with the traditions of his times. The man was a genius. 

Beethoven was not, however, a stranger to difficulties. During his twenties, he began to lose his hearing. His fingers "became thick," he said on one occasion. He couldn't feel the music as he once had. His hearing problem haunted him in the middle years of his life, but he kept it a well-guarded secret. 

When he reached his fifties, he was stone deaf. Three years later he made a tragic attempt to conduct an orchestra and failed miserably. 

Approximately five years later, he died during a fierce thunderstorm. He was deaf, yet a magnificent musician. On one occasion, he was overheard shouting at the top of his voice as he slammed both fists on the keyboard, "I will take life by the throat!" 

Have you ever said that you did not like something you had never tasted? have you ever said you would not like some music you had never listened to? 

Then maybe it is time to grab life by the throat and give something new a try. Who knows how long we have to do so?

Have a marvellous day.

An old fashioned being.

Nobody has time anymore for things that do not seem to bring instant pleasure, or so it would seem. I overheard a couple of people speaking thinking that I was well out of earshot. They had just discovered that I had been a minister for a large part of my life.

They thought this was old fashioned and such a waste of time. So many much more important things to take up the valuable moments of youth.

I remember as a youth wondering what it was that took so many people to a church on a Sunday morning. Not being one of them, I only had the little things I learned from speaking with others. 

Those were the days when it was expected that people had time for such. In some places in the world, this is still the case. For this group of people, I was from the dark ages. 

Over the next two or so days I wondered if all was lost and we had become a people with no sense of the other only ourselves and our feelings.

I wondered what is worship? Was it indeed a thing of the past? 

My own understanding is that to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of something that inspires within you such a feeling is, in fact, a sense of worship.  That we all at some time or other have such feelings, we may not give it a name but it is something other than the ordinary. Without such moments life would be so much less so I hope that I am correct in thinking we all at some time have such experience.

Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then lord chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. 

Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" 

Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees! 

I am not talking about such forms of worship.

I may indeed be a relic of the past but I rejoice in those moments when without thinking something overtakes my inner being and hold me in astonishment. The flight of a bird soaring above in full song does not bring me to my knees but it still fills me with that sense of awe that there is more to life than me

I no longer try to explain or name this feeling because we all express this in different ways but I do so hope that we all are conscious of such moments.  Cherishing such moments fills the inner being with a sense of calm and joy which is there to be tapped into in times of trouble or grief.

I start my day in the quiet thought of just such moments and then find the day brings even more. I really hope we have not reached that time when all that matters in life is oneself.

Have a day full of moments of wonder. 

Arthitist

There is nothing worse than living in a state of constant pain I have a number of friends who like myself are beginning to feel the oncoming of, "Youth Deficiency," a terrible affliction. Along with this comes the ageing of limbs and every aches and pain.

I have a friend who is finding walking more difficult by the day from the pain in his back. I can speak personally having had to have a new ankle fitted because of dreaded arthritis and feeling the day long pain in the other as it deteriorates. 

Worse I can see its progress in my fingers and feel the stiffness and see them slowly but surely becoming more and more misshapen. Wondering when or if the day will come when I will no longer be able to manipulate and use a brush or pencil. I ask myself how long will my hand allow me to hold my digital pencil knowing that it takes even more precision than a normal pencil? 

How easy it would be to just accept and sit back and no longer try. I know many who have done just that. Why inflict pain on oneself unnecessarily? 

On the other side of the coin are those who are a living example who inspire me to keep on going.

Imagine that you are a world-class concert pianist at the peak of your career, someone who has spent years studying and practising to develop your art. 

Your fingers respond instantly to your mental commands, flitting along the keyboard with grace and speed. Then one day you feel a stiffness that wasn't there before. You go to a doctor, tests are done, and the diagnosis comes back: Arthritis. 

Your fingers are destined to become wooden and crippled. From the heights of success and acclaim, you will plunge into oblivion. 

It happened to Byron Janis. 

Within a short time, this concert pianist saw arthritis quickly spread to all his fingers, and the joints of nine of them fused. Some people would have never recovered from such a blow, but Janis decided to fight back. 

He kept his ailment a secret from all but his wife and two close friends. He worked long hours to change his technique. He learned how to use what strengths he had instead of concentrating on his weaknesses. 

He also used a regimen of medications, acupuncture, ultrasound, and even hypnosis to deal with the pain. His wife learned how to give him therapeutic massages to loosen his stiff joints. Through hard work and sheer determination, Janis was able to continue his career. He maintained a full concert schedule for 12 years without anyone suspecting. 

Finally, he told the world at a concert he was performing. These days, he is active in fund-raising for the Arthritis Foundation and still plays the piano. 

He credits faith, and hope, and will for his success and says, "I have arthritis, but it doesn't have me."

What a wonderful example and role model. Carpe Diem, grasp the day. I will never again run the London marathon but all going well I will watch those who on Sunday do then go and do whatever I can manage and rejoice.  

As my father used to say, "There are loads of folks along in the graveyard would love to have your troubles."

Have a great day.  

Remember to look after the roots.

Yesterday a good friend was in a state of panic. Her computer had updated without her knowing and she was convinced she had lost all her data and was having to spend ages looking for other places it might be stored. having talked about it for a bit, her using windows and me using apple I searched my memory banks for a solution. It then dawned on me to do a reboot and resign in. If all else fails go back to the beginning. It worked and all seems well.

I planted an apple tree in my garden. I very gently tended the roots before placing it in the prepared spot. I was aware that no matter what else I did the most important part were those unseen roots. 

In a piece of music, the fundamental tone is the lowest, or root, the tone of any chord. Without this lowest tone, no true character or melody will ever be achieved.

I frequently have long spells when I paint with one medium as opposed to any others. I might use acrylic and never touch a pastel for months. Then something will shout out at me this painting would be better painted in pastel.  On each of those times before starting the painting that is calling me I have, for a bit to return to the basics. 

I will paint something that I love painting and know I can achieve in either medium and before tackling the new subject will get my grounding by returning to the roots. We all know the old saying, "Riding a bike is simple. Once learned it is never forgotten." This may, in fact, be the case but I am sure that first cycle after a spell away is a bit shaky and getting back into rhythm is not just jump on and off you go. Everything we do in life needs to be grounded in the basics. 

Have you ever noticed that life seems to turn in cycles? I have heard people talk about what goes around comes around. Something comes to an end and a new cycle begins. If we are to make the most of those new beginnings and enjoy them to the full we have to ground ourselves in the basics or reground ourselves with the lessons of the past.

Race car driver Bill Vukovich won the famed Indianapolis 500 race in 1953 and 1954, a record of success few other drivers had matched. Asked the secret of his success in Indianapolis, Vukovich replied, "There's no secret. You just press the accelerator to the floor and steer left."

Yes, indeed that is all you do. After you have first learned to drive and all the basics of driving a car as fast as it can go. Finding the skill and the daring so to do.

Every day is a new day and every day is open to new and exciting possibilities. In one way or another, we all want to be daring, creative and original. We all want to have new experiences even the oldest of us.

But to do so we must hold on the basics, the fundamentals we have learned over the years. Get those correct and we can soar as if on the wings of eagles. 

Do not forget the roots and the rest will be strong and full of hope and power. 

Have a marvellous day. If all else fails, reboot and start again. 

Peace be yours.

I frequently walk alone and often do not meet many, if any, other people on my walk. I am not saying that I seek such places or actively pursue being on my own but I do love the sense of peace that such moments bring. As I wandered up the glen the other day, hearing only the song of birds, I turned my thoughts to the subject of, Peace.

I remembered an art challenge that on the topic of peace. 

The challenge was to convey the perfect picture of peace. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally, the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. 

The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled.

As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd. 

A mirror-smooth loch reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.

The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?

A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice. The crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-grey clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power.

A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.

Peace is not just the cessation of noise or the end of fighting or turmoil, it is the inner peace that comes from the knowledge of having found something in the inner being that allows you to be at one with yourself and the world. Some may call this their God, others their, Chi. To question them about what it seems inappropriate for that moment. Rather we should rejoice in the peace that passes all understanding.

Safety consists not in the absence of danger but in the presence of such Peace.

As one religion says, Be still and know.

While elsewhere I read.

The wind stirs the bamboo,

But once the wind passes,

The bamboo is silent.

Geese land on the chill pond,

But once they fly away,

There are no reflections.

In the same way, 

Once the red dust passes,

The mind is still.

Have a wonderful day filled with peace and Understanding.

Not so much about teaching more about learning.

I have frequently mentioned teaching on this blog and a few times remembered my experience of learning. How closely those two are linked, the actions and methods of the teacher can affect the process of learning. Of course, it is equally true that the behaviour and attitude of the student can affect the teaching process.

I watched a programme on television the other evening where an art tutor was instructing a group of artists. I almost instantly knew that I would never learn from the methods or instruction of this teacher. It seems that many of the artists before him did not grasp it either because in the next task none of them adopted anything of the lesson taught.

There are some wonderful lessons to be learned from the interaction between the student and the teacher. it is, of course, imperative that there is a relationship that would enable such learning.

A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher and sage.

At the first meeting of the two, the sage put a piece of the stone into the youth's hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun, and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. 

The procedure was repeated for weeks. The boy became frustrated, when would he be told about jade?  He was too polite to interrupt his venerable teacher., and more importantly, held him in high respect. This old man had much to teach he had much to learn he would trust in the process.

Then one day when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instantly, "That's not jade!" 

Lesson learned.

Learning usually passes through three states. 

In the beginning, you learn the right answers. 

In the second state, you learn the right questions. 

In the third and final stage, you learn which questions are worth asking and when to keep silent and say nothing.

There is a great deal of truth in the old saying, "You do not learn anything the second time you are kicked by a mule. " The lesson ought to have been learned the first time.

All learning takes place when two people have a burning desire to achieve their ambition, one to teach and one to learn.

To end on a lighter note I learned a wonderful lesson yesterday. Every golfer should always carry an extra pair of trousers in his golf bag. Why? Just in case he gets a hole in one. Yes, the old ones are always the best. 

Have a wonderful day.