Video - The power of quiet leadership
Saturday, January 23, 2021
A short, inspiring video on the power of quiet leadership. The power of quiet leadership - BBC Ideas
Longer Reads
This page contains longer, titled posts that I have made to my blog, so as to more easily separate them from other posts that I make here. If you would like to subscribe to the feed for this page, point your RSS reader here.
Kiki's Map of Maui
Monday, January 18, 2021
Since HBO started their HBO Max service, I have slowly been filling in the Studio Ghibli movies that I have not seen. I recently watched Kiki's Delivery Service and noticed that the map that Kiki used was of Maui, or at least had the names of towns and places on Maui. So even though the movie is set in a European looking town, there is a South Pacific slant!
Posting from iA Writer
Friday, January 15, 2021
Posting from iA Writer. It has been a while since I posted directly from here, so I decided just to test how it works. I forgot how it automatically inserted a title.
Announcing a new, old podcast
Sunday, January 10, 2021
It was early April 2017. I was sitting in an Airbnb in Portland, OR. My wife and I had returned to the city that had been our home for eight years, to sort out a storage room of our belongings, to decide what was going with us back to Maui and what we were going to sell. I had decided to start a podcast to help people start and build a meditation practice.
Managing my Life
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
On January 1st, with a new month here, never mind a new year, I worked through my December todos, seeing what was undone and bringing those items forward to January. This is not my Bullet Journal, rather it is a hybrid system that I have been cobbling together from a number of different systems. It has taken me a while to get here, but I am feeling more comfortable than I have done for a long while in managing my life and for that I am grateful.
Moving from YouTube to Vimeo
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
I’m exploring moving my videos, which to date are all concerned with meditation, from YouTube to Vimeo. I am on a trial account with Vimeo for a month and have started uploading my videos to the platform. This will take a couple of weeks because the Vimeo plan that I am on has a weekly upload limit. So why move? YouTube is free, and I believe it has greater visibility than Vimeo.
Seeing life through other’s eyes
Friday, December 4, 2020
I started writing this earlier in the year while spending a weekend in Hana, on the far east coast of Maui. My wife and I, and a couple of COVID free trusted friends rented a house. I arrived feeling nauseous after navigating the twists and turns of the Hana Highway, and so stayed behind to rest while everyone else went for a walk. I sit watching a bug crawling across the top of the wooden balcony railing.
The Introvert and The Wet Weather
Saturday, November 7, 2020
In this little corner of Hawai’i the wet weather has been slow in coming. While the seasonal changes are not as noticeable as in the far northern hemisphere, there is a subtle, perceptible change in the atmosphere - the light, the sensed feeling of the days. Autumn arrived a few weeks ago . . . in part. The part that was missing was the wet weather, the rain. Days have been hot, the sun piercing in its strength.
Book in the Car
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
In my attempt to read more, I have put a book in the glove compartment of my car. I am not the fastest of readers, and find that I do not have a lot of time to read - perhaps a few pages before turning off the light at night. Other opportunities are grabbed here and there…and that was the motivation for the book in the glove compartment idea. No, I do not intend to read and drive.
The Night Sky in Two Movements
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Last night felt like a night of the stars, the celestial type. As my wife and I walked home from my step-daughter’s house, the Milky Way arched across the sky above us. Looking outside now at the sun and blue sky, it’s hard to believe what is around and above us all of the time - the lights just need to be dimmed. Last night the moon rose late. Light pollution where I live is very low and the sprinkles of the Milky Way were clear and obvious, as was the surrounding star scape.
The 2nd Highly Sensitive Men's Seminar
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Here is a promotional video of the 2nd High Sensitive Men’s seminar taking place over Zoom on December 5th. See my previous post for more details and where to purchase tickets.
The Second Highly Sensitive Men’s Seminar
Monday, September 21, 2020
Towards the end of the second week of December, the 2nd Highly Sensitive Men’s seminar will be held. I am not an organizer of this event, but plan to attend. The first such seminar, A Weekend for Highly Sensitive Men, was in person in California and held just before the pandemic. Due to COVID-19, this seminar will be online (see Details below). Why am I attending? First and foremost to be in the presence of men with the same or similar personality type to myself.
A Bird Flew Into A Window
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Last weekend was one of unplugging and heading to the beautiful community of Hana on the eastarn edge of Maui. So isolated is the community, that at the height of the recent pandemic lockdown there was a road block established to prevent all but local residents from traveling out there, thus protecting their vulnerability. Along with my wife and a few friends, we spent the day at Hamoa Beach, enjoying its crystal clear waters.
Looking Out on the World
Friday, July 31, 2020
This is a strong image for me, an image from the past, A remembrance - sitting in my bedroom window at Tandderwen. Late at night, silence, quiet, looking out over the world. Tandderwen was the name of my house when I lived in South Wales. It is not unusual for houses in Britain to have names rather than numbers. Tandderwen is Welsh for Under the Oak. I don’t speak Welsh, but when the house was nearing completion and I was pondering what to name the new property, a friend lent me a book of Welsh words (along with their English meanings).
Pen & Paper helping to find a way forward
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
There are times when I find myself loosing focus on what I am doing and I start looking for distractions. Not unlikely it is because I am coming up against something that I don’t enjoy doing or find difficult. When I hit those situations, I am trying to train myself to get to paper & pen to gather my thoughts and find a way forward.
Imagery
Monday, July 6, 2020
📚 I love coming across phrases in books that just jump out at me. One the books that I have on the go right now is Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. I loved the imagery that Yoshimoto conjured up in this passage, Until only recently, the light that bathed the now - empty apartment had contained the smells of our life there. Oh, the treasure of books.
I’m alone at home right now
Sunday, June 14, 2020
It is Sunday morning. I am sitting at our small desk that looks out onto the front garden and from there, in the distance, to the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. I am home alone. Sunday morning music is playing. By that I mean music which reflects my mood on a Sunday morning and allows me to drop into a reflective space. I’m appreciating the quietness, the space, the time to step back and think, write and reflect.
May Meditation Nudges - Final Week
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
As a compliment to the live meditation sessions that I am running through May on YouTube and archived on my YouTube page, I am sharing tips and advice on meditation practice. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links from the forth week. Posts from the first week can be found here, the second week here, the third week here, and the forth week here.
May Meditation Nudge 31
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Boundaries This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I want to finish up the May Meditation Nudges with a short reflection on what external support we can offer our meditation practice. By that I mean, what we can do away from our formal meditation practice, out in our daily life, to aid our meditation practice.
May Meditation Nudge 30
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Keeping it light This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I have spoken during these May Meditation Nudges of the importance of just showing up, of sitting with our emotions regardless of what arises and the need for vulnerability. This might appear on the face of it as though meditation is rather an ordeal, especially when I speak about meditation being a marathon and not a sprint.
May Meditation Nudges - Forth Week
Saturday, May 30, 2020
As a compliment to the live meditation sessions that I am running through May on YouTube and archived on my YouTube page, I am sharing tips and advice on meditation practice. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links from the forth week. Posts from the first week can be found here, the second week here, and the third week here. Day 22 Emotions Day 23 Fine tuning the focus Day 24 Loving kindness Day 25 Does this ring true for you?
May Meditation Nudge 29
Friday, May 29, 2020
Hear, reflect, meditate This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Within the tradition that I was taught meditation, three steps were explained leading up to engaging in a meditation practice. Hear or read the teaching/explanation. Reflect on what you have heard or read.
May Meditation Nudge 28
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Vulnerability & meditation This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I believe that meditation requires a degree of vulnerability. I will call it here, self-vulnerability. Another word might be honesty? Unless one has a meditation teacher or meditation cohort with whom you can confide your experiences, meditation is a solitary practice.
May Meditation Nudge 27
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
You are not alone This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Meditation is an ancient tradition. Depending on one’s reading of history, the practice of meditation might go back as far as the 20th century BCE. Within the tradition that I was taught meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhism first arrived in Tibet in the 6th century.
May Meditation Nudge 26
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Breaking my own suggestions This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I titled one of the earlier articles in this Nudge series, “Beware of waiting for silence before you meditate.” While I believe that the advice that I offer in that piece is important, I am now going to apparently contradict myself!
May Meditation Nudge 25
Monday, May 25, 2020
Does this ring true for you? This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Can you identify with this description? Some days, perhaps for reasons that you cannot really put your finger on, you can’t really find your bearings. You feel as though you are trudging through treacle, not getting anywhere and not really sure where you are headed anyway.
May Meditation Nudge 24
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Loving kindness This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Loving kindness, that acceptance of yourself just as you are. That is something that I don’t always find very easy. I catch myself doing something, reacting to someone, speaking to someone, thinking something that I really wish that I didn’t do, say or think.
May Meditation Nudges - Third Week
Saturday, May 23, 2020
As a compliment to the live meditation sessions that I am running through May on YouTube and archived on my YouTube page, I am sharing tips and advice on meditation practice. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links from the second week. Posts from the first week can be found here, and the second week here. Day 15 Community Day 16 No judgement Day 17 Awareness and Mindfulness Day 18 Self-Confidence Day 19 Faith Day 20 Meditate from where you are Day 21 Missing your regular meditation I hope that you can join me for the remaining two May meditations this coming Monday 25th and Thursday 28th.
May Meditation Nudge 23
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Fine tuning the focus This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. As your practice of watching the breath develops, you can start to use some subtleties to fine tune your focus. Become aware of the temperature of the breath as it enters the nose and when it leaves the nose.
May Meditation Nudge 22
Friday, May 22, 2020
Emotions This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Regardless what we are meditating on, sometimes a strong emotion will arise. The practice of just noting the emotion and returning to the object of meditation, for example the breath, can feel like a tug of war between your attempt to meditate and the emotion’s pull for your attention.