Dear ,
I hope you are well and enjoying the summer. In the UK, the summer doesn't seem to have arrived yet - it’s been raining for the last two weeks, and the temperature hasn't risen above 14 degrees!
The past few months have been quite challenging for me and my brother, as both of my parents’ health has been deteriorating and they need a lot of attention. In particular, my father's health has been deteriorating quite quickly over the last few weeks. He has Parkinson's disease and can't look after himself anymore. (If you send me an email and I don't respond, this is probably why!).
But the positive side is that I have met so many beautiful people, like the carers who've been coming round to help look after my dad. They're being paid low wages to do tasks that most other people would shirk from (like helping old people on the toilet) but all of them are cheerful and kind and have formed a real empathic bond with me and my dad. (Most of them are from Africa, which may or may not be significant!) Last week my dad
went back into hospital and will probably go into a care home soon, so I had to tell the carers that we didn't need their help anymore. There is one carer - a middle aged women from Kenya - who is the epitome of selflessness and goodness. When I told her she started to cry, and said, "I'm going to miss your dad! I've grown to really like him." So it has been really heartwarming - I've found that there are many people in the caring professions who really do care!
A couple of weeks ago, we had a nice break when we went to Wales for a few days, staying in a caravan on the beautiful island of Anglesey. We used to go to Anglesey a lot a few years ago, and it’s one of my favourite places - an unspoilt emerald island, with a powerful ancient mystical atmosphere. I wrote quite a few of the poems in The Calm Center there. Sometimes I would wake up in the morning with the lines of a poem in my
mind.
When I'm on holiday with my family, one of the things I love to do with my kids is skim stones in the sea or in lakes. (I think it's called skipping in the US). It's beautiful to watch the patterns in the water as the stones disturb them, and to watch the stones bouncing through the air. There is a whole science to it, of finding the right stone, releasing it at the right height, holding it in the right way, and so on. On Anglesey I
achieved my all time record of 10 skims! I thought that was impressive until I googled it and found that the world record is 51 skims!
New Articles
I’ve had three new articles published since my last newsletter. One of them was a piece based on my book Spiritual Science, explaining how a spiritual view of the world fits a lot better than the standard scientific model. I was pleased that it was published on a mainstream website (The Conversation) and attracted a lot of interest and comments. It’s very important to get alternative views into the mainstream, to try to open
the minds of people in the secular scientific world. You can read the article here.
I also published an article based on my book The Fall, about Native Americans. I’ve always found it amazing how little knowledge there is about the massive influence of Native Americans on the founding fathers of the US, and US culture in general. So I wrote an article called 'Original Influences' about this, published through High Existence, which
you can read here.
Finally, I published a blog article about one of my heroes, the great psychologist William James, who was amazingly prescient in his views and theories. Read the blog here.
For Free! Spanish and Czech Copies of The Leap
I have some Spanish and Czech copies of The Leap to give away for free (as long as you pay the postage from the UK It should be about €5 in Europe, or about $10 to South America). Let me know if you would like one. You can reply to this email and it will reach me.
The Flow
A facebook friend of mine, Jenny Bodnarchuk, who lives in Australia, has posted my poem ‘The Flow’ on the door of her caravan. She says that people regularly stop to read it. It looks wonderful under the reflection of a magical sunrise, in the photo below.
Events
I’ll be taking a break from talks over the summer, to concentrate on finishing my autobiographical novel. But I have a couple of remaining events scheduled.
On Sat. 29th June, I’m speaking at a Wellbeing festival on another of my favourite places, the beautiful Isle of Man, along with the author Tim Freke and others. Details here
On the weekend of 30 Aug - 1st September, in Scarborough, Yorkshire, I’m taking part in the annual conference of the British Transpersonal Psychology Section. As the chair of the section, I’ll be chairing the conference, and also leading a workshop on poetry and spirituality. The theme of the conference is ‘Transpersonal Psychology and Creativity’ so it should be a great experience. The
conference is open to everyone, not just members of the section. More details here.
My only other talk is an event in London:
London, 23rd July - A talk on The Psychology of Time Perception, details here.
New Poem: We Are Each Other
Let me finish this newsletter with a new poem:
We Are Each Other
We’re not ghostly entities
marooned inside our mental space
with our own personal pain and suffering
that can never be shared, or even understood.
We’re not machines full of selfish genes
who are always scheming to outdo each other
and only ever show kindness
if there’s some benefit to ourselves.
We are each other.
The same space fills our beings
like the air that fills different rooms.
And all of our feelings flow
like currents through the atmosphere
of our communal being
brushing each other’s souls, touching each other’s hearts,
stirring compassion and kindness.
We can feel compassion
because our true nature is connection.
We can help and heal each other
because we can sense each other’s suffering.
And love is just the recognition
that we are each other.
all best wishes and blessings, Steve
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