After finding that David Whyte's book of Consolations ultimately veered into the dull shade of a light obscured sunshine, I decided to go back to reading something with more spiritual heft to it, i.e.the Buddha's Dharma. I've had a copy of The Anguttara Nikaya, barely read since it was bought for me a while ago. So I'm reintroducing myself to the stiff and over structured cast of Buddhist discourses. On one level what they did was simply phenomenal, to form a collection of a vast range of similar numerical teachings into one compendium volume. Its undoubtedly impressive, but those monks must all have been such left brain nerds, with all this cataloging and grouping of themes by subject and numbers. And no one ever said - Hey, guys, enough with the sytematising. Think what your target market is, its not bureaucratic Buddhist administrators is it? Check listing all the correct cross references and structured textual consistencies are maintained. Real people have to read this not data analysts or actuaries.
I do have a personal fight on with reading discourses and mental tedium. The tendency is for my attention to switch completely off when I read repetitive material. Its as though I have a sensor which automatically shuts down, when there appears to be a lack of stimulating input coming through to the brain. Its similar to You Tube where after twenty minutes it simply stops a video streaming, just to check if you are still watching. To counter this, I'm reading only a small extract every morning. There is interesting material here, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it is buried beneath verse after verse that only differ from each other by a stray adjective.
A recent poll appeared to suggest a large number of Gen Z might support a more authoritarian form of government. This article in The Conversation indicates that actually it was very dependent on how you phrased your question, when you specifically mention dictatorship then its a lot smaller numerically than our right wing press so gleefully reported :-
https://theconversation.com/only-6-of-gen-z-actually-favour-dictatorship-not-half-as-some-reports-would-have-you-believe-250945?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=bylinecopy_url_button
Besides, I can remember I had a phase in my mid teens of flirting with the idea of a dictatorship. Just to sort things out. It's probably not that unusual for adolescents to experiment with political attitudes, try them on for size. This viewpoint only lasted a year or so, and then I did a volte face, probably not unconnected to realising - them fascists, they's never a gay man's buddy man. In my mid teens the UK was in a right mess, their was The Winter of Discontent, and future prospects were looking really bleak. So it was perhaps understandable I thought more strong arm political solutions might be good. This would subsequently to be followed by the collapse of the Labour/Liberal coalition that made the Thatcher era inevitable. Where the poisonous seeds of our current parlous state were deeply sown. So, all I'd say to any Gen Z out there is - be very very cautious about what you wish for.
My right shoulder slowly improves with the emphasis on slowly. After two weeks of resistance band exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles I have regained most of my shoulder movement. The shoulder joint itself remains tender, the muscles still become quite stiff at night, I can't lie on my right side or carry anything heavy, without it becoming painful, and its all quite weather dependent. The muscles in my shoulder having become so atrophied, finds any daily exercise is a bit of a short sharp shock to them. Exercise might wake them up, only for them to slip back into stiffness as the day goes by. I'm about to try doing rotator cuff exercises only on alternate days, to give them some breathing space to adapt and recover, plus improving my daily protein intake which is a little low. However, trying to find a protein bar that is not also far too high in fat and sugar is nigh impossible.
Today I watched with jaw on the floor as The Tangerine Emporer and his VP Painted Wormtongue did a number on Volondymr Zelensky. This was like two mafia thugs turning up to put the screws on someone for disrespecting them. As an EU diplomat said, this was definitive proof if we needed it, that we have to find a new leader for the free democratic world, pronto. This US regime has become the poodle of Putin and are attempting to bully and intimidate democratic countries into an agenda that is not in their best interest. This did not happen by accident, it's a planned strategy from the US administration to humiliate and diminish Zelensky into doing their bidding or resign. This was designed not to look good on TV. To paraphrase Lady Gaga - their category was Dance or Die.
You can tell when the weather has released itself from the grisly grip of its wintry grey chill and we are allowed to glimpse sunshine on more frequent occasions. It's also when Hubby and I start talking about when the best time for a day trip to Southwold might be. Though very foggy and in minus numbers at first, once the sun struck out towards its zenith it soon burned off into a glorious clear blue day. Southwold, seemed in relative good nick.
After we had done our major ports of call Cornish Bakery, Lift, Bookshop, and general perusal of the retail offering, we bought an alfresco lunch from Black Olive. Sat on the promenade watching the sun glistening the ocean waves, as all varieties of people and dogs gamble by. We began a new tradition last visit of popping into Beccles on the way back. And I must say the place is growing on me. It has a fine cafe/deli called Baileys which is worth repeated visiting in anyone's book.
Like every market town in East Anglia, you can tell Beccles has inherited a faded glory, in a grand medieval church tower and porch, with lovely Georgian back streets. Its high street retail is a mixture of the low to high quality, with the inevitable significant gaps in the teeth. The day though sunny with a bit of a chill wind, was a real pick me up. Such bright clear days have been in short supply this Winter. Just being out and about in it lifted the general mood of doom and gloom. Arriving back home exhausted, but in an entirely beneficial way.
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