Poem: Window

A window silently gives chance reflection
And an ability to see through what was, perhaps,
once a wall, mortar and mortal.
Standing, still,
structured and supporting.
Hands made you and then betrayed you.
And what of what once hung upon it?
For now this pane serves as a self portrait
To the fleet of foot who pass you by.
Mirror, mirror, once a wall
Reflect, hold fast and tell us all.

Poem: Night in November

Revellers in the quiet of the night,

Whipped by wind, 

Hands held to unite against the cold.

Crunching November's pavements

In pursuit of a well lit corner,

Fireside and pints in hand.

Now imbibed, merrier, 

Love finds a voice.

Wonderers, wandering, return on diagonals 

And close the door with a kiss.

Wander through wonders - Manchester

As I lay in bed this morning, with hockey off the cards, I was determined to make the day productive. It turned into a rather expensive day, but that wasn't my fault... I digress. I will be leaving the Manchester area in a few weeks and I felt that I perhaps hadn't given the city a chance; truly explored it or bothered to look at its history or architecture.

I started the process as all of us would (in bed): I launched Google and looked for tourist information. The website (http://www.visitmanchester.com/home) is brilliant, it tells you what is on and any offers you can take advantage of. However the best bit was that it refers you to an app you can download which provides audio guided tours of the city - and they are free!

The link to the app is here: http://www.visitmanchester.com/articles/walks/manchester-walking-tours-app/

There are two currently available, I did the city and architecture tour and I'm hoping to do the other tomorrow.

So off I went - braving the cold - and caught the met, rucksack on my back, headphones in and crap phone camera out - proper tourist gear! I've only really ventured into town with a destination in mind - usually for a drink - and as such you don't really look any higher than street signs - and you really do miss the sights. I won't recant the whole tour, as its a city you should explore and it only takes about 45 minutes to walk the route. I took a few pictures (which aren't anything to shout about) which I have posted below: 

There were lots of buildings affected by blitz attacks, and lots of modern history attached to some of the most historic grade listed buildings as well. There are lots of other free things to do, which the app tells you, so I'm definitely going to enter the sites next time and not just look at the outside.

All that walking built up an appetite, so I then started my search for a light bite and I struck gold with La Bandera (http://www.labandera.co.uk/). Bit of background - it's a traditional Spanish/Iberian menu and just off Deansgate. 

What a great place. Staff were very welcoming, walked me through the menu and recommended the freshest food - who am I not to listen to beautiful Spanish women when they well you what to do?!

No complaints whatsoever. Definitely somewhere I will go back to - I ran out of appetite before I could have everything I thought would be nice! 

And then I went and spent loads of money on clothes and a new phone... The plus side is that my pictures should be better as it has a better camera! 

I'm really enjoying trying new things and excited about what is to come as I continue adventuring. Now to contemplate what is next...

Enjoy x

Can't sleep, even under pressure

Sleep seems to be becoming a rare and precious commodity in my life. Particularly at the moment as I'm battling a cold and sore throat (please donate all the sympathy you can).

I've been utilising the trusted method of having the radio on, to drift off to. This is a double-edged sword though, as some programmes are just too engaging to switch off to. And as I can't sleep for exactly that reason, that in itself has prompted me to compose a very short post on the radio programme which I'm currently listening to - Cabin Pressure.

It is a radio sitcom written and created by John Finnemore and was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008. It follows the flights and plights of "MJN Air", a single plane airline who struggle to stay in business. The odd-ball crew consists of Finnemore, Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam and Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch.

I'm the first to admit, it starts slowly but it's worth sticking with. The characters grow on you and the format is tight but creative - I'd love to know if there are any in-jokes from an aviation perspective.

The programme came to its conclusion after 4 full series over the 2014 Christmas period. But the good news (for those who care to give it a whirl) is that they have just posted Series 1 Episode 1 to the BBC radio iplayer - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cb5k4 - which means you can start from the beginning!

If you have any other radio comedy suggestions then please let me know. I am into trying new things at the moment! X

Considered Resolutions

Happy New Year!

That’s the aspiration and sentiment rather than a certainty – but is sincerely wished to you all nonetheless. 

 

Whilst January brings in fresher weather and tons of spam emails about how much you overspent at Christmas, it’s the time of year that resolutions are drafted: Ideas for how you are going to live over the next 12 months, and potentially beyond. So my aim for this post was to seek inspiration for and draft a framework to consider resolutions based on the pursuit of happiness.

 

I was interested to know what resolutions other people were making to inspire creating my own. The majority of those which I heard were centred on personal well-being; lose weight, quit smoking, get fit, eat healthier food or drink less alcohol. 

 

Searching for inspiration that didn’t involve cutting out G&Ts, my friend told me that a motto he used to hear was “enrich your life”. It made me think of what enrichment really is: adding things of value. Almost simultaneously, in the pursuit of new books via Amazon recommendations, I stumbled across a book by Roman Krznaric (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wonderbox-Curious-histories-live/dp/1846683947) which discusses “There are many ways to try to improve our lives … But we rarely to look to history for inspiration - and when we do it can be surprisingly powerful.” – the past seems like a sensible place to start, after all, you are only ‘here’ as a result of the steps you have taken to get there. I’m reliably informed that Instagram will have a much more concise and poetic version of that sentiment in quote form, but crucially also calligraphic.

I haven’t ordered the book, but I may do if someone recommends it. 

The BBC seem to have tapped into the resolution theme too, given the time of year (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30536963). In the article they focus on Tolstoy (the chap who wrote War & Peace and Anna Karenina, which, again, I haven’t ordered). He isn’t someone I ever thought I’d be blogging about.

Tolstoy, born in 1828, was a member of the Russian nobility who weaned himself off the decadent, racy lifestyle that he lived in his formative years, to adopt the unconventional. The changes he made are actually quite startling, and boil down to a number of principles. I have considered each of them, thought about how I can interpret them and could achieve them as resolutions. So here goes...

1. Keep an open mind

Tolstoy was arguably one of the first to encourage society to question the fundamental beliefs and dogmas we have been brought up with. I'm not Russell Brand, calling for a revolution - just a man making a resolution. For my part, I think I am quite a dismissive person so I am aiming to be more positive about experiences and try new things.

2. Practise empathy

Tolstoy believed you could never understand the reality of other people's lives unless you had a taste of it yourself. I think that I will aim to increase my exposure to the lives of other people – not necessarily those worse off, but perhaps culturally different and therefore practice what brings other people happiness as well. 

3. Make a difference

Tolstoy distinguished himself from his peers by taking practical action to alleviate other people's suffering, most evidently in his famine relief work – in 1873, Tolstoy stopped writing for a year to organise aid for the starving. I’m not going to lie, I make a good lasagne, but I don’t that would be all too helpful and I have more rent to pay now so quitting my job might not be practical.

 

As I’m sure you’ll no doubt be aware, as a gym goer, January is a particularly busy month as everyone wants to kick-start the year with obligatory visits to a gym (on a membership they don’t actually want) dressed in the fitness gear they got for Christmas (when it seemed like a sensible idea). I thought that rather than focus on an open ended ambition of “get fit”, I would target an event to make a difference – so watch this space, I may be doing a 10km or Half Marathon near you… raising money for a worthwhile cause.

4. Master the art of simple living

Whilst Tolstoy overthrew things in his life, I think that I’d interpret this principle as living sensibly. He gave up drinking, smoking, and became a vegetarian - whilst I see sense in the smoking one, the other two I’m not so keen to give up. I am woeful at budgeting and rubbish at turning down nights out (one feeds the other no doubt) so living simple for me is being more sensible about what I spend my money on.

5. Beware your contradictions

I’d like to think that in 2015 I avoid the contradiction of saying one thing and doing another, and to satisfy that I am publishing these "resolutions" by means of being loosely held account to them.  

6. Become a craftsman

Tolstoy recognised that striking a balance between mind and body was an essential part of his creative process. I’ve let the frequency of my blogging slip, but I have discovered other channels for creativity which are sometimes difficult to evidence. For 2015, it can be as simple as cooking more adventurously, making music, writing or maybe learning something brand new. I am hoping I’ll find, by trying new things, what works for me and what doesn’t – don’t expect me to pop down to Hobbycraft and get crazy with some felt or paper-maché just yet!

7. Expand your social circle

Most of the above relate to challenging our assumptions and developing new ways of looking at the world. One of the easiest ways to do this is to increase your exposure to people whose views and lifestyles differ from our own. So I'm going to try and make new friends - hopefully through practicing the other principles.

I think the most important thing to recognise with resolutions is that you don't need to achieve everything in month 1, it's a long game and I'm looking forward to it.

So there we have it, first post of 2015. I have found inspiration for resolutions, or better yet ways to enrich my life - I know I want 2015 to be happy so this post seems like a good start to set out on that path. 

I may "break" these resolutions from time to time but this process (writing and researching the post's content) has made me more aware of the scope for enrichment and possibilities to achieve it. Hopefully some of it pays off and I'd like to revisit how well I think I have maintained them in a post later this year.

I also hope that this inspires others to think about what they can do to achieve their goals for the year as well. 

Life is for living, live well and love x