Older, but no wiser
Andy Borrows' musings on life and all its confusion, contradictions, richness and opportunities
Monday, June 12, 2006
Bits ’n’ pieces
The three days we spent in Yorkshire the week before last, learning about the Alexander Technique, were wonderful. Quiet, green, peaceful, and infused with simple wholeness and well-being. And grounded in practical reality too, which may mean I stand a better chance of holding on to the learning, even though we're now back in a world of bustle, noise, concrete and fragmentation. A few photos from strolls in the locality are on Flickr.
I’m getting to enjoy this bike. A 200 mile round trip to one of our other offices on Friday, to a sleepy spot in deepest Worcestershire with a journey mostly on single carriageway ‘A’ roads or, even better, quiet twisty ‘B’ roads – and on one of the most glorious days so far this year. I nearly melted on the way back though, crawling (relatively speaking) through the only large town on route and stopping for fuel with the temperature hitting 30degC. I know, I know, that’s nothing to what you desert-dwellers out there in the U S of A routinely tolerate, but here in the Old Country that counts as HOT, especially when you’re clad in full protective bike gear.
Saturday and Sunday were even hotter – which of course is why this Englishman, like a true mad dog, was out in the noonday sun. But all to good effect, since the carnival float we were putting together for the school where my wife teaches won first place - pics to follow.
It’s show time again, and evenings this week will be manic. Final rehearsals Monday to Wednesday, shows Thursday to Sunday. Why do I keep saying yes? Well, okay, I know why, even though it’s a struggle to fit it all in. I do it because I enjoy making music, I enjoy the sense of shared purpose, and most of all I enjoy those intangible moments when it all comes together and there’s magic which joins the singers, the musicians and the audience so that, for a moment or two, we experience together something that's wider and deeper that any one of us.
It’s all fun, it’s all worthwhile – and it’s also an avoidance strategy. Maybe not a consciously deliberate strategy (although it could be unconsciously deliberate, if you see what I mean), but keeping excessively busy certainly has the effect of avoiding addressing those Big Questions that don’t go away.
I’m getting to enjoy this bike. A 200 mile round trip to one of our other offices on Friday, to a sleepy spot in deepest Worcestershire with a journey mostly on single carriageway ‘A’ roads or, even better, quiet twisty ‘B’ roads – and on one of the most glorious days so far this year. I nearly melted on the way back though, crawling (relatively speaking) through the only large town on route and stopping for fuel with the temperature hitting 30degC. I know, I know, that’s nothing to what you desert-dwellers out there in the U S of A routinely tolerate, but here in the Old Country that counts as HOT, especially when you’re clad in full protective bike gear.
Saturday and Sunday were even hotter – which of course is why this Englishman, like a true mad dog, was out in the noonday sun. But all to good effect, since the carnival float we were putting together for the school where my wife teaches won first place - pics to follow.
It’s show time again, and evenings this week will be manic. Final rehearsals Monday to Wednesday, shows Thursday to Sunday. Why do I keep saying yes? Well, okay, I know why, even though it’s a struggle to fit it all in. I do it because I enjoy making music, I enjoy the sense of shared purpose, and most of all I enjoy those intangible moments when it all comes together and there’s magic which joins the singers, the musicians and the audience so that, for a moment or two, we experience together something that's wider and deeper that any one of us.
It’s all fun, it’s all worthwhile – and it’s also an avoidance strategy. Maybe not a consciously deliberate strategy (although it could be unconsciously deliberate, if you see what I mean), but keeping excessively busy certainly has the effect of avoiding addressing those Big Questions that don’t go away.
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