Dear ,
I hope you have had a good Christmas - and blessings in advance for the new year. I’ve had
quite a busy time - partly because my father is in hospital and I’ve been trying to get him out! It’s a long story but my father hates being in hospital, and finds it difficult to sleep - and as a result of his sleep deprivation, he’s quite confused and depressed. (He went in because of a fall and problems with blood pressure but that seems to be sorted now.) The issue is that the doctors think he’s confused because of some underlying condition and so don’t think he’s well enough to go home.
I’ve all explained all this of course, but the whole process is very complex, especially because of the Christmas holidays, since a lot of people are not around. I never realised how difficult it is to get someone discharged from hospital. I told them that I was going to just pick him up and take him home, but the doctors have made a ‘deprivation of liberty’ order, which means that they are entitled to keep him there against his will. It’s all quite strange, but I’m sure it will get sorted soon.
I might speak to a solicitor about it tomorrow.
Apart from that, it’s been nice to hang out with my kids and sing Christmas songs with my mother and the other ladies at her nursing home. I’ve also been taking a bit of time to read through my new book, Spiritual Science, after finishing
it a couple of weeks ago. (Yes, I forgot to mention - I finished my book, all 88,000 words of it!) I’m very pleased with it, especially since it’s so different to my previous books. It’s a distillation of a lot of ideas and issues that have preoccupied part of me for about 25 years. That’s probably why I was able to write it so quickly - because it had been ‘brewing’ inside me for so long. I have to hand it in to the publisher by the end of January so I’ve got some time to read through and make
some edits and also put together the notes and references.
'Making The Leap' New LIVE On-Line Course
In January, I’m beginning a five week on-line course based on my book The Leap. To be precise, it’s starting on Sunday January 14th (8.30 pm UK, 3.30 pm EST, 12.30pm PST). It costs £40 or $60. The course includes 5 live video sessions (which are recorded in case you can’t make the live session), powerpoint slides that accompany the videos, and a host of materials, including exercises and poems and audio files of meditations and so on. For more information, see this
link: Event in Dublin
On February 16th I’m
holding my first ever event in Dublin, Ireland. I’ll be exploring some of the themes of The Calm Center and The Leap. focusing on the characteristics of spiritual wakefulness. I’ll be illustrating these with some of my poetic meditations and leading some exercises to cultivate them. For
further information see here. My New Research If you've been following a spiritual path or a practice for a long period (e.g. 10 years) would you mind possibly helping me out with some research I'm doing at my university? It's about the effects of spiritual practice. There are a couple of questions about income and education that you can leave out if you like. it will only take a few minutes at the
most! Thanks. Take the questionnaire here. New Poem
My poem this month is a festive message- a reminder that every day is sacred and should be celebrated. (It’s actually an excerpt for a longer poem called ‘The Festive Season’ in my book The Meaning.)
Sacred Days
There are no special days -
there is only the spinning of the earth
towards the sun and away again, warming its face before the fire
then turning again to the cold black space.
The year has no end or beginning.
There is only the floating of the earth,
tilting through the seasons like a yacht at sea.
on a course laid down by gravity.
Every day is sacred -
every moment of this journey,
every
spin and tilt and curve,
every forward flow through space.
And I will celebrate them all.
All best wishes and blessings, Steve
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