Archive for year: 2017

So, a client says to me, just as an aside, “why is it that we go on holiday to get away from where we live and the people who live where we holiday are going somewhere else for theirs?”

The idea of needing to get away would suggest that where we are is never really good enough. I get it that the act of taking a break, of doing something different, is stimulating and often relaxing but the question got me thinking about do we appreciate where we are and what we have? Are we able to enjoy the space that we live in?

I am reminded of the amount of time when Rie and I have been driving around Europe and have been spellbound by views and vistas. Yet there are many times when we have noted that we have views like this where we live. There is a beach on an island in the Florida Quays that people go to every evening to watch and marvel at the sunset. It’s a lovely sunset. But, when I watch the sun going down over Hilbre Island and the Welsh coast I am stunned on a daily basis.

I live on a peninsula named Wirral. It is known as the insular peninsula mainly because people, once they arrive, never leave. I know many people born in Wirral that have never travelled anywhere else, not even for a holiday. I note that those that do manage to leave often return after a few years as though they have been drawn back by some invisible elastic umbilicus that will not let them truly leave.

Wirral sticks out into the sea with estuaries either side. There is the river Mersey between Wirral and Liverpool and the River Dee between Wirral and Wales. Both estuaries empty into the sea so at the top end of Wirral there are beaches, and all the fun of the holiday trade. There seems to be a balance here of industry, residential and holiday occupation and accommodation.

Where do you live?
How well do you know your own area? What do you know about its history? The month on May is local community and history month, maybe a good time to get to know where you live?

I have lived all over the world and only came to Wirral with work and stayed because of Rie, and now I can’t think of a better place to live. Like most of the British I feel that the weather could be warmer and that the sun could shine some more but all in all, I live in heaven. Within minutes I can stroll down to the beach. In twenty minutes I can be through the tunnel and in the centre of Liverpool. In twenty-five minutes I can be in Chester and in forty minutes into the mountains of Wales. The motorway system that runs through the middle of Wirral connects us to the rest of the UK and through to Europe.

Once I became interested in the Wirral and began to look around it I found places that are gems. There are areas of richness and poverty, areas of beauty and the not so beautiful. I discovered that Paul Hollywood’s dad had a bakers in Wirral, that Lillie Savage was brought up here and Wirral has been home to Ian Astbury, Ian Botham, Chris Boardman, Fiona Bruce, Elvis Costello, Dixie Dean, Daniel Craig, Chris Farrell, Austin Healey, Paul Hollywood, Simon Rimmer, Eric Idle, Paul O’Grady, John Peel, Patricia Routledge, Harold Wilson, Glenda Jackson, the list goes on forever. And there was a Viking parliament in a place called Thingwall apparently a corruption on Ing meaning assembly and Voll meaning field- Amazing.

Anyway, I digress. My advice to you is to get to know where you are. Don’t become blind to what is around you and certainly enjoy your holidays in foreign parts but maybe begin to understand why people from other parts of the world might like to come to where you live for their annual holiday.

Take care and be happy

Sean x

In the last podcast Ed and I were looking at the psychological phenomenon of ‘attitude alignment’, the idea that we, below our awareness, take on the prevailing attitudes of whichever group we are with. On the day we were recording that podcast, Theresa May announced that she was going to the country in a general election. It seems to me that this is a fabulous opportunity to watch attitude alignment in action as the various spin doctors and attitude manipulators do their best to sway us voters to embrace their attitudes. Are we actually being seduced?

I see both the advantages and disadvantages of capitalism and both the advantages and disadvantages of socialism. Though either does not seduce me. Last week Ed described himself as a ‘centralist’ and I guess I join him in that. The centre ground is where most people are. In this election the attitude aligners will attempt to sway the centre ground to either the left or the right. So, here we go again, another election. Prepare to be swayed or seduced.

Both Ed and I are not really politically motivated though we do have the shared attitude alignment in the belief that human beings are best served by coming together as groups in common interest rather than breaking down in ever smaller factions. Because of that we are both ‘remainers’ though not ‘remoaners’. And because of that fundamental idea in common unity we run, with Rie, Live In The Present and run courses designed to bring people together.

For me the issues of Brexit are not those of economics or immigration they are those of the development of human consciousness, which I see as the reality of evolution. The process of evolution that took single celled organisms to the primates and homosapiens of today is not only the evolution of biology, physiology, sociology and psychology, it is also that of evolving consciousness.

Evolution is not something that did happen and then stopped, it is happening right now in you and me and all around us. Evolution continues and forever will do so. The key to understanding evolution will always be the investigating evolution of consciousness. Evolution is the increasing awareness and awake-ness of mind that is expressed in physical form. In many senses evolution is the increasing ability of consciousness to become aware of itself.

Looking back at social history we can show that behaviours and practices that were acceptable a few hundred years ago are now considered difficult, wrong and unacceptable. After all it was only in the 1960’s that women in Britain ceased to be the property or chattels of their husbands or fathers. In many countries women still suffer inequality with their men folk. I suspect that many women in Britain would, even now, feel that they do not have full equality.

As our human consciousness evolves people’s behaviour gradually develops to be less damaging and more helpful to itself and to all other beings and even the environment and the planet as a whole. With greater awareness we learn to attend to the needs of each other. As I often say my simple life philosophy is that…

…if we all look after each other we will all be ok

Without going over old ground too much social history shows us that the division of countries across Europe and across the world led to the two great world wars. Following the creation of the League of Nations, the United Nations and the European community, NATO and the multi-various trade agreements have all been the expression of the natural desire of consciousness to envelope. That is human beings growing in awareness, coming together and working together.

Division and separation, in the end, serves no one and creates more problems for human beings and all sentient beings and the environment on the planet.

Look out for the aligners
Who is attempting to align your attitudes with theirs. Each party and each group will be attempting to get your vote. One thing that we need to consider is whether people are telling us the truth. Ed raised several cases where Trump and May have been shown to be lying. Psychopathic behaviour when applied to politicians is the ability to appear genuine and sincere and then go and do something completely different. When someone will tell us anything at anytime to get the response that they really want we need to be mindful and listen for the sound behind their words, what is it that they really mean? What are they really saying?

If you recall that vast amount of money that was advertised on the side if the UKIP bus that would be put into the NHS which was then denied by Farage when he was directly questioned in an interview.

Being seduced can be fun
When I go to replace my car I love that process of the salesperson doing whatever they can to secure the sale. It is seduction in action. There is nothing wrong with being seduced as long as we are mindful of what is going on and that we are seduced with both our knowledge and consent.

So, through out this election period enjoy the seduction that you will be subject to be friends, family, the media or even on the doorstep. Be mindful of what is happening and simply ask your self ‘Why are they saying that, what do the really mean, what is the true sound behind their words?’

Take care and be happy

Sean