Be scared, be very scared...(by Cosmic Egg)

I was curious to read of the sacking of Eton English teacher Will Knowland for a lecture he had not even delivered to his charges. Knowland was sacked for refusing to remove the lecture he'd prepared from his own YouTube channel. In so doing he contravened the Equality Act, or so claimed Eton head master Simon Henderson, and Knowland was dismissed.

Eton College upholds decision to fire teacher in masculinity row - BBC News

Etonians launch petition to reinstate teacher who was sacked over lesson titled 'The Patriarchy Paradox' | Tatler

I have just watched the video ‘The Patriarchy Paradox’ on his YouTube channel (link below) and found myself wondering what all the fuss is about. Admittedly, it’s not exactly high-brow but then it was aimed at Eton pupils, i.e. teens not undergraduates or above to engage them and encourage critical thinking and debate. Knowland’s accusers call it ‘offensive’ – a catch-all term, it seems, applied to those who hold views other than those one cherishes.

The Patriarchy Paradox - YouTube (33 minutes)

Eton teacher dismissed amid free speech row - YouTube (10 minutes)

 

                                     

We are used to examples from history of free speech being curtailed or outlawed under authoritarian regimes, be they of a political or religious nature. Who would consider the same mechanism might be underway in western, post-modern, democratic societies? Surely, a genuinely open, tolerant and free society does not seek to stifle debate and silence people for their (differing) views? And yet this is what we have increasingly become accustomed to witnessing, in both the educational system, social and main stream media.

Who are the accused? Individuals, like J.K. Rowling, who fall foul of adhering to the latest fashionable group-think (Rowling took a stance and dared to critique the seemingly unquestioned and unquestionable agenda of the Trans movement resulting in her being labelled a ‘transphobe’).

Who are the accusers? Minority pressure groups that gain traction primarily through the use of various social media platforms.

Who are (ultimately) the victims? Those that have swallowed wholesale the current ideology that revolves around micro-aggression, safe spaces, trigger warnings and cancel culture for they fail to see how such behaviour and actions harms them and others by way of infantilisation.

 

Attempting to direct, muzzle or deny other’s opinions in the name of ‘Equality’ is playing a dangerous game and one that will, surely, provoke a backlash. Perhaps the time has come for all of us to look into our own hearts and minds. Do we really want those who shout loudest to speak on our behalf? 

 

10 Powerful Life Lessons from The Alchemist

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is one of the best-selling books in history, with over 65 million copies in 56 different languages. The story of Santiago, the shepherd boy on a journey to realize his “Personal Legend” has inspired people all over the world to live their dreams.

Here are ten of the most popular passages and lessons to apply to your life:

1.  Fear is a Bigger Obstacle Than the Obstacle Itself

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.

Any new pursuit requires entering uncharted territory — that’s scary. But with any great risk comes great reward. The experiences you gain in pursuing your dream will make it all worthwhile.

2.  What is “True” Will Always Endure

If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.

Truth cannot be veiled by smoke and mirrors — it will always stand firm. When you’re searching for the “right” decision, it will be the one that withstands the tests of time and the weight of scrutiny.

3.  Break the Monotony

When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.

Gratitude is the practice of finding the good in each day. Life can easily become stagnant, mundane, and monotonous, but that changes depending on what we choose to see. There’s always a silver lining, if you look for it.

4.  Embrace the Present

Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man.

There’s no point dwelling in the past and letting it define you, nor getting lost and anxious about the future. But in the present moment, you’re in the field of possibility — how you engage with the present moment will direct your life.

5.  Your Success has a Ripple-Effect

That’s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.

Growth, change, and evolution are weaved into the fabric of reality. Becoming a better version of yourself creates a ripple effect that benefits everything around you: your lifestyle, your family, your friends, your community.

6.  Make the Decision

When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he has never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the unknowns and finer details of your dreams. Actions will flow out of having confidence in your decision; sitting on the fence will get you nowhere.

7.  Be Unrealistic

I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.

Some of the greatest inventions would not have happened if people chose to accept the world as it is. Great achievements and innovations begin with a mindset that ignores the impossible.

8.  Never Stay Down

The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

Because the eighth time could be your breakthrough. Some of the greatest novels in history were published after receiving hundreds of rejections. Thankfully, those authors never gave up.

9.  Focus on Your Own Journey

If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

It’s easy to be influenced by others, but you’ll be miserable if you end up living someone else’s life. There’s nothing wrong with taking advice and learning from others, but make sure it aligns with your desires and passions.

10.  Always Take Action

There is only one way to learn.
It’s through action.

You can study, read, and listen until you turn blue in the face. But the full experience is when you take action and let the rubber meet the road. Once you’re done aiming, pull the trigger.

10 Powerful Life Lessons from The Alchemist (theutopianlife.com)

 

“When you don’t follow your nature there is a hole in the universe where you were supposed to be”

 ~ Dane Rudhyar

How the Light Comes (A Blessing for Christmas Day) by Jan Richardson

 

I cannot tell you

how the light comes.

 

What I know

is that it is more ancient

than imagining.

 

That it travels

across an astounding expanse

to reach us.

 

That it loves

searching out

what is hidden

what is lost

what is forgotten

or in peril

or in pain.

 

That it has a fondness

for the body

for finding its way

toward flesh

for tracing the edges

of form

for shining forth

through the eye,

the hand,

the heart.

 

I cannot tell you

how the light comes,

but that it does.

That it will.

That it works its way

into the deepest dark

that enfolds you,

though it may seem

long ages in coming

or arrive in a shape

you did not foresee.

 

And so

may we this day

turn ourselves toward it.

May we lift our faces

to let it find us.

May we bend our bodies

to follow the arc it makes.

May we open

and open more

and open still

 

to the blessed light

that comes.

Joel McKerrow & the Mysterious Few - Welcome Home

Live to Sea (Psyche Films)

 

How an elite surfer followed the wave of his dreams back home to the Baltic Sea

Even for those who have never stood on a surfboard, it’s not hard to imagine the exhilaration of the sport – the immediacy of fear-tinged thrills, the might and weight of the seawater, the wonder of moving with and across waves. And when surfers describe the feeling of freedom, the connection with nature and the camaraderie that they find in their pursuit, most of us can probably come up with our own analogous experiences, even if they’re less obviously adventurous or skilful. The short documentary Live to Sea offers a rich sense of these and other aspects of surfing, but another theme also pulses through the film and transforms its story into one that resonates in unexpected ways.

Freddie Meadows, the Swedish surfer at the centre of this saga, speaks frequently of his dreams, not just in the sense of aspirations and objectives, but also as something akin to visions. To be sure, this more mystical strand of dream is inseparable from his primary goal, which is to find the rare and elusive waves in the Baltic Sea that can challenge and excite a professional surfer. But he has a curious turn of phrase – ‘dreaming myself into all these places’ – that he tends to use to describe a kind of imagining that lets him see what he has not yet found. That something so intuitive and internal is central to how he seeks those waves gives his striving the shape and valence of the classic hero’s journey.

The film follows the archetypal quest narrative described by Joseph Campbell in 1949, from ‘The Call to Adventure’ to the eventual ‘Return’, via a period of training in Portugal, international surfing competitions and a period of illness. But it’s the emotional journey of Meadows in relation to substantial physical and psychological obstacles that ties his story to the grander narratives that are so familiar in literature and mythology. This is not to say that the story itself reaches the heights or profundity of epics such as Gilgamesh, The Odyssey or Parzival, but there is compelling psychological grist swirling within this extreme sports documentary. While the imagery of Sweden’s rugged coastline and the mysterious swells of the Baltic have a palpable power on screen, it’s the internal undertow of Meadows’s dream-questing that can move us to consider our own paths to self-development and self-knowledge.

Live to sea | Psyche Films

Northumbrian Sequence IV (by Kathleen Raine)

Let in the wind,

Let in the rain,

Let in the moors tonight,

 

The storm beats on my window-pane,

Night stands at my bed-foot,

Let in the fear,

Let in the pain,

Let in the trees that toss and groan,

Let in the north tonight.

 

Let in the nameless formless power

That beats upon my door,

Let in the ice, let in the snow,

The banshee howling on the moor,

The bracken-bush on the bleak hillside,

Let in the dead tonight.

 

The whistling ghost behind the dyke,

The dead that rot in the mire,

Let in the thronging ancestors,

The unfilled desire,

Let in the wraith of the dead earl,

Let in the dead tonight.

 

Let in the cold,

Let in the wet,

Let in the loneliness,

Let in the quick,

Let in the dead,

Let in the unpeopled skies.

 

Oh how can virgin fingers weave

A covering for the void,

How can my fearful heart conceive

Gigantic solitude?

How can a house so small contain

A company so great?

Let in the dark,

Let in the dead,

Let in your love tonight.

 

Let in the snow that numbs the grave,

Let in the acorn-tree,

The mountain stream and mountain stone,

Let in the bitter sea.

 

Fearful is my virgin heart

And frail my virgin form,

And must I then take pity on

The raging of the storm

That rose up from the great abyss

Before the earth was made,

That pours the stars in cataracts

And shakes this violent world?

 

Let in the fire,

Let in the power,

Let in the invading might.

 

Gentle must my fingers be

And pitiful my heart

Since I must bind in human form

A living power so great,

A living impulse great and wild

That cries about my house

With all the violence of desire

Desiring this my peace.

 

Pitiful my heart must hold

The lonely stars at rest,

Have pity on the raven’s cry,

The torrent and the eagle’s wing,

The icy water of the tarn

And on the biting blast.

 

Let in the wound,

Let in the pain,

Let in your child tonight.

 

(Kathleen Raine in: The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine)