Eternal Gold.

While I was over in Northern Ireland I finished “Lifting the Veil of Duality.” I hope to reread it one day.  Perhaps I will read it all in Northern Ireland. I found it difficult being there this time. There is a wonderful sense of community still, quite like the places described by Miss Read. But the price of such stability and security is high. The expectation is of conformity, and definitely subscription to the doctrine of Duality.

I am enjoying the return both to the freedom of London and the feminine voice of Eternal Gold. Jean Foster who wrote it is not well known, and I have never met anyone who has mentioned the trilogy of her books that I have read. So I don’t have the pleasure of sharing it with others. Perhaps that is why I enjoy writing here. At least I share it with myself!

She is an encouraging writer because she highlights a way to move from one state of consciousness to a higher state, without effort or hard struggle. I also like the acceptance of mystery. Why would we not have helpers, “Brothers” and angels? I would like it if she included “sisters” but the main thing is the sense of having help, that the universe makes great sense, and that we are on a journey in consciousness.  She talks about the relevance of Eternal Gold, which is a direct transmission of Pure Thought energy, in the marketplace.

How could such a transmission not be of value? Is this not what people long for and are attracted to…the Good…. the Reality and Substance of Good. Usually good is an adjective, going with something or someone else, but really we all know the Presence of Good….just sheer good! And it will be expressed one way or another. Jean is teaching that first we must “Team Up” with our helpers to be shown a greater Good, and then it can and must be expressed in our lives.

Not likely to happen overnight, but worth the wait, I am sure.

Reading Aloud

Sometimes quiet reading just does not do the trick. My partner has a lovely voice and I love to hear him read aloud. Roger Hamilton’s book, “Wink and Grow Rich” is great for this. Each chapter is a story/fable in itself and just the right length for reading aloud. It really is like having my own Jackanory service.

That was a lovely programme in my childhood, when an actor or actress would simply read a story. There were very few frills, just the blend of words and the skill to convey them. How simple! Yet I remember the pleasure of those programmes very well.

Sometimes I ask John to read things because I want him to get the message. I am sure he realizes this, though we have not discussed it, and he is very patient with me about it. But Wink! is really inspiring both of us. We both have Aha! moments, even though for different reasons. I am looking forward to today’s chapter on “The Fisherman”

Out of curiosity, I googled “reading aloud.” It was not surprising to find many education articles, mostly lauding its benefits….but also there were some sites about reading aloud text on websites. One of them is www.blogbard.com  I can hear as I write a sample from The Huffington Post. It sounds like a male robot, without expression, even though that many of the posts are written by women.

And over on www.yakitome.com the same robot, US Mike is reading Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Rather surreal to hear Alice’s thoughts about making a daisy chain in the metronomic tones of Mike.

I read that people want to catch up on blogs during their commutes, but I know that listening to a wonderful, live, English man who knows how to read aloud is a totally different experience than hearing this robot rattle along!

What Does a Hairdresser Really Do?

By this stage of my life I am an experienced and interested consumer. It never ceases to amaze me though, how little interest businesses seem to have in feedback. I am just back from a hairdresser today. A Friday afternoon, a salon in Greenwich, London. I got a very good cut at a reasonable price. But as an experience of being pampered, it left something to be desired. Not terrible, just so so customer service.

I am quite a short person. This has an effect when I sit in a chair that is a little too high. So today I asked for a footstool so that I would not fidget about. I pointed out that with my feet securely planted, the haircutting would probably be enhanced. On my last visit I was constantly being asked to uncross my legs and still ended up looking a bit lop-sided. The young hairdresser obligingly searched around and improvised cleverly, which was very helpful. Indeed I felt much more comfortable than previously. But no actual stool was available for such a circumstance.

I am not uniquely small, and the feeling of having one’s limbs dangling without support is not conducive to a relaxing experience. It begs the question…why do I and the vast majority of women (and possibly men) attend a salon? Yes, obviously to have our haircut, but isn’t it much more than that? Isn’t it about feeling good, as well as looking good?

If I found a salon that operated according to that vision, I would be a loyal customer, a raving fan and I suspect it would not be almost empty on a Friday afternoon. But I am almost 100% sure that no stools will materialize in that salon.

While I was there I was also reading one of Roger Hamilton‘s books- “Wink and Grow Rich,” in preparation for his upcoming event in London. The first chapter is all about getting clarity of vision. I realized that the issue in this salon is that its vision is blurry. They did a competent, businesslike job, and my stylist was a pleasant young man, but there was little sense of being valued by the salon as a whole.

They took my name again, for about the third time, but not any other details. Maybe the colorist will fill it in, maybe not. But they did not look up the previous card today and again I had to rack my memory. They spoke in quiet tones even when the water was running so I had to strain to hear and even though I said “pardon” a few times the voices remained hushed. Nothing major, but a little more empathy would make a vast difference.

I had tried to book in elsewhere but there were no appointments till the middle of next week.Perhaps it is not a coincidence that I had been able to book in here just an hour previously and the salon was really very quiet, despite the “house” and heavy rock music. I wonder who they are trying to please with that, as the clientele is generally 30 plus?

There is little difference between the two in the price… so perhaps the other place is a little more responsive to customers? I left the salon, making plans to do some training for hairdressers, beauticians and everyone else who could do more to help customers feel much better. We are all human beings after all. Or I could offer consultations as a “professional customer,” because I really would like to enable good businesses to be even better. And it was actually worth it for the very good haircut, I must admit!

Duality for the Second Time.

Today I was inspired to read the first chapter of ”Lifting the Veil of Duality” by Andreas Moritz. I have read it before and I knew then I was not really taking it in.

But this time I find it much more useful. All about energy, God, creativity, responsibility. The lighter side of life. I think he is saying that everything is grist to the mill, not just the stuff we like, but the big challenges.

I spent £11 on books today. £1 on a history of the BBC and £9.99 on a book on creativity. If I got paid to read books, I would be extremely wealthy! Perhaps the book on creativity will help bring about this desirable state of affairs.

In the meantime, I will practise acceptance of its absence as another exercise in creativity, as recommended by Mr Moritz. When it threatens to become too much, I will escape into childhood memories of television. Less reading, more photos.

 

Have been too busy these last few days to get on with much reading. Things like going to Greenwich for an overdue catchup coffee and cake session with a friend.

We also went to a great big non event. Seeing the Olympic flame make its way up the Thames. Well, allegedly. What we actually saw was a motorboat surrounded by other boats with armed police. A small crowd of us by the Cutty Sark were a little disappointed.

This morning on the tube I delved into my handbag for a book, not even sure which one is the current “handbag book.” Only certain books are suitable. They must be the right size, interesting enough to be absorbing but not too demanding, and they tend to be about some current personal development issue.

So out came “Diamonds Under Pressure,”  by Barry Farber. I had already read the first chapter but decided to read it again, as the thread of continuity had broken. It was brilliant! What a relief to read a book about success that really allows for the fact that succeeding does not happen without failing, mistakes, fear and taking risks. And there are so many encouraging stories!

The only way to get to success is to understand failure.

I find that really comforting. So much self help teaching suggests that everything should come effortlessly, like a line of falling dominos. H’m. Well I don’t live in that world. And I don’t think I set up difficulty just for the sake of it. It is more like life just is pressurizing at times. Better to look for the pearl, or the diamond in the making, than complaining that it’s tough.  

The Power of the Subconscious Mind.

So what I have actually read and enjoyed today….

It was interesting to notice how this book has been hovering on the edge of my mind for a couple of days, like a favourite old tune that I was ignoring but aware of in the distance. This morning it was more like the sound of a bell, ringing the title in my mind with some urgency. I was a little surprised to find it instantly in the first place I looked. Maybe the subconscious mind was already working on my behalf..

Not just coincidence since the book is “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” by Dr Joseph Murphy. One of “the most powerful self help guides ever written, ” according to its cover. Over a Million Copies Sold!

I can well believe it! I liked it the first time I read it and this is about the third time.

Today I have been struck afresh by a couple of passages.

There is a miraculous, causative force in your subconscious that can heal the troubled mind and the broken heart. It can open the prison door of the mind and liberate you. It can free you from all kinds of material and physical bondage.

p3

Every thought is a cause, and every condition is an effect.

p 7

There is nothing new here. These days, after “the Secret”, it seems most people know about this wonderful teaching. This book dates from 1963…and yet as I read it this morning, I had a new Aha! moment. Intellectually I know this truth. but I have been resisting it! It is so easy to think that an intellectual understanding is enough. But today, I read Dr Murphy’s words with my heart, as well as my eyes. Not the same experience at all.

The difference is in the sense of joy and excitement that comes as I realize, I have the power to choose the focus of my thinking. And somewhere in this is the difference between intellect, which is a cerebral aspect of intelligence, and intelligence itself, which is a quality issuing from a whole person. This is the kind of insight I want to treasure, not forget, and be grateful for.

Spoilt for choice!

One of the biggest problems is deciding what to write about. All sorts of stuff starts to go on. Am I writing just for myself? Doubtful as the first thing I did after yesterday’s two posts was make a link to Facebook and send the title of this infant blog to my dearly beloved!

So ideas of a deeply personal record seem a bit flawed. Perhaps Nobody really wants to feel they write for No-one unless it is the sort of miserable-angry-depressed at 4 am rants (which I of course have never done…!)

Already I see how this writing makes me a bit more conscious of my reading, wondering shall I write about this, or about that? Will I admit this, but not that? IShould I focus on the reading process, the joy of reading etc for which there are a gazillion searches on Google?

And what is my writing voice? Humorous? Self Deprecating? Didactic? Simple, like Miss Read? if only, that sort of simplicity is probably close to what TS Eliot describes as “Simplicity, costing not less than everything. “

And that is the other thing. Do I sit down and Google, Village Schools, as I have thought of, or write the memories I have of my own time in a 2 room Primary School in Northern Ireland in the late 50s and early 60s? Do I Google Dora Saint and see what happens? Miss Read’s real name I believe.

Or do I write about what I have actually read and enjoyed today….which is another story?

I think it will keep, for just a little while.

I love to read….

And I have the short sight to prove it! If I had kept a record of all the books I’d ever read it would be…mindboggling! I am not particularly proud, or ashamed of it. It is just a fact. Books are my friends, guides, spiritual advisors, coaches, and in some ways they are the bridge between me and the so called real world.

I can read any book I choose. I can read books on subjects I know nothing about….and end up a little wiser…or be more sure that I don’t want to know about them. And if it is a subject I love, then a book is a deepening into that love.

Since I spend so much time and energy…and money, of course, on reading, perhaps it makes sense to spend a bit of time making my reading more conscious and absorb it better.  To use it somehow to track my rather circuitous path through this world.

I am reading about half a dozen books at the moment. I just started on one by “Miss Read” as she is called. What a deeply enjoyable read. Part of what is inspiring me to write is that I do want to say” thank you”  to many fabulous authors, of whom Miss Read is one. Her books are deceptively simple tales of village life. Written from the perspective of a kindly teacher,  her stories are full of delightful observation and characterization.

Set in 1950s England and moving up into the 60s, for me they are absolute gems. I have borrowed them from libraries for years, but recently realized to my surprise I did not own a single book by this lady, one of my favourite authors!

A strange state of affairs when you consider I have hundreds of books. (I must count them one day!)

And it is even stranger to think that her books may not be on sale for much longer as younger writers take their place in the ranks.

First Post…and a book blog is born!

I love to read…and to write, so why not write about books? I love to synthesize as well, as this bookworm chews her way through reams of material. And not just through books, but magazines, newspapers, ebooks….whatever somehow fits in the great reading tapestry that enriches my days. Time to give back, and see where it takes me!