New Blog

Hi there! I know that I've not been blogging here for very long, but I've just opened up my new Blog at www.thoughtsandstories.typepad.com. Please go there for my latest posts!

All the best,

D.

Thoughts: Japan

Hihi, in Japan. The plane didn't crash or anything.

My observations on Japanese life:
- People are very polite here, for example:
It's very rude to blow your nose loudly in public
People just don't talk loudly on the train, or use mobile phones
People bow a lot to each other

- People are very law abiding, street crime is virtually non-existent. People don't even cross the road when the red man is showing.

- The roads are very people-friendly.

- It feels like a very Asian city to my mind, similar to India, in that:
The streets are very busy
There isn't a high priority on neatness, or symmetry, or balance - it's more a riot of colours and sounds (and smells!)

- People spend a lot of money here on fashion, and on consumer electronics. People's appearance matters a lot to them. Part of the reason I think that they spend so much on these things is that they HAVE a lot of money, and they can't invest it into their houses - people don't buy houses over here, because it costs so much - and they don't drive, in Tokyo at least, so they've got a limited amount of other things to spend it on.

- There are a LOT of gadgets. The house I'm staying in has an a toilet with a built in bidet and an automatic flush, all controlled by a little panel on the wall.

Those are my thoughts so far!

D

Bye!

Well, tomorrow I leave for Japan.
All the best,

D.

Happiness

Ready Brek makes me happy! :-)







(well, actually it's Tesco instant hot oat cereal, but they taste the same!)

comment: Scary stories

Inspired by watching Dead Poets Society again, I want to invite us to inspire each other, and to challenge each other to get a bit closer to the edge. Don't be afraid of this, I know that we're English, but it doesn't mean that we HAVE to keep silent about our achievements. The idea is that we comment, telling about a risk that we took recently - something that really scared us. Somebody MUST have done something more risky than walk across 7/3 meter pole over a gushing torrent/trickling brook (depending on who you believe - I was there, I should know!!) You can post anonymously if you want. If you haven't done anything that scared you in the past month, then maybe you should, right now, if for no other reason than to write it here.

All the best,

D.

Story: The third one

A quick storyline that I don't have time to write into a proper story: At the moment a person is quite angry with me. Without wishing to justify myself, it's over an area of her life that I challenged her on. I believe that it was right in the context to bring the challenge (and that she brought about the circumstances leading to the challenge). I believe that I communicated the challenge clearly, in context, and with an understanding that I supported and cared (care) about her. However, she also didn't want to talk very much. She stopped the conversation, and has been angry with me since.

She's not actually angry with me because of what I said; I'm not sure that she's even really angry with ME, but rather with people and circumstances in her past. However that expresses itself in anger towards me. It's a shame, but I can accept this. The other thing, however, is that part of her expressing her anger is that she is communicating her frustrations with other people. This means that other people have a bad impression of me, without knowing the full story.

I thought that this second thing would be the final straw, but you know what? It isn't! I don't mean that there's more that she's done, but rather that it hasn't broken anything - I still can't feel angry with her. I just can't think of anything except blessing towards her. I really honestly hope and pray that she is very happy and contented.

I'm glad that I feel that way.

Things that have been confirmed to me are:

- That talking about things is the only way to resolve any issue, otherwise they never get dealt with

- That you shouldn't talk to others about a negative situation, until you've talked directly to the person invovled.

(I'm aware that that second point may seem hypocritical as I'm blogging this - please comment on whether it is, in your opinion! I feel that one important distinction is that you don't know the identity of the person).

Best wishes,

D.

story: The man who liked to be scared

As he drove past along the high road, the thought entered his mind. "No," he instantly dismissed it. There's no point. It's not rational. Why would I want to? It doesn't make sense.

15 minutes later he found himself standing at the spinney, facing the 'Bridge'. The Bridge was a railway sleeper, 2 meters above the river, 7 meters long, and 10cm wide. Walking across it was the scariest thing he'd ever done.

He wasn't really unnerved at all by the fact that he was alone, in a secluded spot, in the dark, but the walking over the 'bridge' made his mouth dry, his heart pound, and his breathing shallow. Which is why he had to do it.

- Now, let's pause for a moment here. Because of my aforementioned intensity, I have a propensity for making things seem more melodramatic than they actually are. Please hear me here, I KNOW that it's not actually all that scary or dangerous, and that if I fell in, I'd only just get wet, but you're missing the point of what I'm trying to share with you if you focus on that! -

He inched forward along the beam. Half way across he glanced down at the surface of the water. Having no reference point on which to judge his balance, every sway seemed to be a major lurch towards falling in. And, because he was nervous, when he felt himself leaning one way, he overcompensated in leaning the other, which brought him even closer to falling in. Half way accross, looking at the surface of the water, he nearly fell. He tensed up like Road Runner finishing a run. He carried on, edging slowly, slowly.
Near the end was a tricky bit, where the bridge went under a tree. You had to push the clawing, scratching branches out of the way to get past, but you could get stuck if you tried to balance against them. They were no more than twigs - wouldn't hold your weight, - false friends. If you leant on them they'd give way, and you'd be in the water. He reached up his hand, to clear the way for himself. All he was aware of were his feet, the river, and the feel of the tree, digging lightly into his hand.

And then he turned around.

He stopped what he was doing, within a breath of the end, and turned around, and walked, very slowly and carefully back the way he had come. Then when he got there, he turned around, and went back again, a bit more confidently.

He kept wandering up and down that plank, not until it didn't scare him at all, but at least until he could say he was mostly over his fear of it - he had conquered it!

And this has been his experience time and and time again. He can't get away from things that scare him. He can avoid them, for a while, but then they creep up on him, and he has to do them. He even feels kinda flabby, or out of shape, when he hasn't done anything scary in a while. He is a man who can't resist being scared. If something scares him, he will end up doing it. He can't say why., it's just something he does. And long may it continue.

much love

D