Every summer we go up to the mountains for a few weeks. It’s idyllic. Everything about it is perfect for de-stressing and relaxing. For several summers in a row I accompanied my time there with great books and podcasts. Three years ago it was Trappist monk Thomas Merton’s autobiography, two years ago it was manyContinue reading “A Personal Board of Directors”
Author Archives: Ben
Photography for the Soul
I’ve heard that if you look after your passions you look after your soul. The other day I saw a black-and-white photograph of some telegraph poles disappearing into the mist, and I ached to go and take pictures like that again… So today I took my camera up to El Escorial, an hour from Madrid.Continue reading “Photography for the Soul”
The Farmer’s Peace and Lorca’s Drawings
I’m sure you know the wonderful Zen Story of the Chinese Farmer, here told by Alan Watts: “Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.”Continue reading “The Farmer’s Peace and Lorca’s Drawings”
Walk
An interesting way to set out on a walk from A to B is to choose the path of greatest silence. In the city this is just as possible as it is in the suburbs or the countryside – choosing the backstreets instead of the main roads, detouring through the middle of parks – evenContinue reading “Walk”
Favourite Books…
I had a very nice email from a reader of this blog: “Could you share some of your all-time favorite books? I had to think hard about this; you might have to do the same. These are books that have moved you, ones you tell others about, ones that sadden you when you finish becauseContinue reading “Favourite Books…”
Collaboration
My little daughter occasionally takes my phone when no one is looking and manages to activate the camera. Then I find lots of photos like this: I thought this next one was actually very good, no idea what it is: When she went to bed I put it into Photoshop, spun it 90º, fiddled withContinue reading “Collaboration”
Change 4: The Body and the Bird Feeder
A few days ago I had a nice conversation with one of my sisters about the bird feeders in her garden, how her family love watching all the local bird life gathering there to eat. ‘I want to buy some bird feeders!’ I thought, so I jumped onto Amazon and entered ‘bird feeder’. Hundreds ofContinue reading “Change 4: The Body and the Bird Feeder”
Change 3: Effortlessness
The first two changes I’m making are tangible, you can hold them in your hands and see them with your eyes: drawing, and reading books. This third change is abstract, but just as real. Change 3 is Effortlessness. To live with Effortlessness. What does that even mean?! I have been going to the physiotherapist everyContinue reading “Change 3: Effortlessness”
Change 2: Read!
We are practically Neanderthals. We don’t have a tele, we’ve never owned an iPad or tablet, and we only occasionally subscribe to a month here and there of Netflix, which we watch on the laptop. But the last few months have seen a definite swerve from these Thoreauvean tendencies. It started when we rented aContinue reading “Change 2: Read!”
Change 1: Draw
There are a series of nice changes I am making in my life. I’d like to write about them, and see how they stick. The first, is to draw more again. My grandmother was an artist, and my mother worked for a while in a shop selling antiquarian books and art, which meant that weContinue reading “Change 1: Draw”
