I asked my friend Mike, ‘What do you call it when you have a blog and you think you should be writing it regularly but aren’t and you feel bad about it?’ And he replied, ‘I think that’s just called being a blogger these days’. Hmmmm. This post is in rebellion to my inactivity andContinue reading “Eagles, Kites and Freedom”
Category Archives: Notes from Ben
Starting something new… Now!
My wife Marina and I started a new podcast last week for our Spanish-teaching website Notes in Spanish. It’s called “3 Words for Ascuas“. We made episode 1 and put it out into the world the next day. She said, “Let’s record a few more before we put the first one out, it’s good toContinue reading “Starting something new… Now!”
Grasses
A few mornings ago I cycled up to the top of the Madrid’s Casa de Campo wild parkland, to a quiet spot between two great oak trees. I found myself looking at the parched grasses moving gently in the wind. They stand there quietly, in peace, free from worries and concerns, and when the timeContinue reading “Grasses”
Heaven or Hell?
Here’s another section from Be Free Where You Are that struck me deeply, on the hell that we cultivate and maintain in ourselves, and the alternative: “We contain the Kingdom of God [peace, freedom, happiness], the Pure Land of the Buddha, in every cell of our bodies. If we know how to live, the KingdomContinue reading “Heaven or Hell?”
Silence
My daughter’s pre-school teacher suggested we try to make deliberate spaces in the day for silence with the kids, maybe just 3 minutes to start with. Find a quiet spot in the house, light a candle in the center of the space, and sit quietly. She suggested that these spaces would be incredibly nutritive forContinue reading “Silence”
Simplify
In R. K. Narayan’s fine novel The Painter of Signs, set in the fictional South-Indian town of Malgudi, the protagonist Raman lives with his ageing aunt. She spends her days tending the home, receiving friends, shopping to feed herself and Raman, and in the evening, attending the local temple to listen to the reading ofContinue reading “Simplify”
Patience…
I’m reading Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession. I nearly gave up early on, nothing seemed to be happening, then I found myself enchanted by its beguiling, funny, undramatic normalness. It’s full of well-expressed passages that sound just right: “With the morning all to himself, he moved to the living room and sat byContinue reading “Patience…”
Slices of Dreams
Todays’ picture, a fern from our small garden. Inspired by David Hockney and his beautiful spring drawings and timely reminder, “Do Remember They Can’t Cancel the Spring” – worth a look! Reading: inspired by one of my sisters, I’ve been reading short stories. Short stories are like little dreams, or slices of dreams even, andContinue reading “Slices of Dreams”
Circles of Inspiration
The photo above is by my friend Mike Randolph. Usually we have lunch about once a week, favouring simple menu del día places around Madrid, but nowadays, well, we’re staying in for a while! Apparently, partly inspired by a quote I mentioned to him, he took his professional photography talents to this new indoor life,Continue reading “Circles of Inspiration”
Windows of Happiness
While confined at home with the kids, drawing with them is one of the most relaxing things I have found to do. Above is a view from a window, an imaginary view in my mind that I drew with their felt-tip brush pens. I think I had Matisse in mind, his warm colours in paintingsContinue reading “Windows of Happiness”
