Dear ,
I hope all is well with you, wherever you are in the world. In recent weeks, I’ve been busy writing my ‘autobiographical novel’ (or memoir) based on the years I spent living in eastern Germany in the early 1990s. I’m almost finished now - I’ve broken off from the last chapter to write this newsletter. I started writing at the age of 16 - poetry, at first. At the age of 18, I started to write stories, and a novel. At that time I knew for
sure that I was going to be a writer - it was such a strong impulse inside me. I was also a musician, and wrote a lot of songs, so for a long time writing and music were parallel activities in my life. I formed and joined a few bands, and ended up in London in 1991, playing guitar in an ‘indie’ band. (Our one brush with success was that we supported a band called Suede, who became famous shortly afterwards.) Then an old school friend called Wayne asked me join his band, who were based in
Cardiff, Wales. They had a tour of Germany booked, which seemed like an adventure, so I accepted the offer. That’s how I came to live in Germany - I met a girl while we were on tour, and decided to go to live with her, and stayed for four years. I carried on playing in bands while in Germany, and did a lot of concerts, but I eventually decided that the musician’s lifestyle wasn’t suited to me, so gave up. That was when I was 28 years old, and I’ve never returned to bands and gigs, even though I
still love playing the guitar and bass and piano at home. (I’ve also recently started to play the drums.) Now my kids are learning instruments, so it’s great to play with them in our living room!
So the book is about those years when I was a musician, and about the experiences I had in post-communist east Germany, which was so different to England and western Europe it could have been a different planet. But more fundamentally, the book is about my personal development - about how I went through a kind of breakdown which eventually turned out to be a liberation and an awakening.
It's such a pleasure to write in a free-flowing poetic and descriptive way. In my younger years, I wrote three novels, until I realised that I wasn't meant to be a writer of fiction, and should be writing books on spirituality and personal development instead. But this book is a combination of both styles, so it’s been great to re-engage with my old novel-writing self. At the moment, I’m not sure what I’m going to do
with the book. I’m not sure who would publish it, or even if I want to have it published. But I’ll decide when it's finished.
(Funnily enough, my old friend Henry - who I met in east Germany and played a lot of music with while I was there - has just been staying with us, with his 14 year old son Edgar. It’s great that we are still friends after so many years, and that our kids are of a similar age and friendly with each other too. During our chats, Henry reminded me a lot of things I have forgotten about east Germany.)
New Articles
At the same time as working on my book, I’ve written a few new articles. One of them is a rare foray into the realm of politics - not expressing any particular views, but wondering why we (the general population) always seem to end up with leaders who don’t use power responsibly and often suffer from psychological disorders, such as narcissism and psychopathy. The article is partly based on my book The Fall, where I looked into
the strategies which some hunter-gatherer groups use to deal with the problem of domineering alpha-males. Read the article here.
I also published an article about transpersonal psychology, based on the debate I had in an academic journal with another transpersonal psychologist last year (published as ‘The Taylor-Hartlelius debate on spirituality and psychology.’ It's always seemed self-evident to me that there are some common underlying spiritual experiences behind the world's spiritual
traditions. When I got involved in transpersonal psychology I was surprised that some people were doubtful about the idea. This article is my attempt to justify the idea of a 'perennial philosophy' in a more nuanced and modern way. Read the article here.
My 'Complete Works'!
I now have a 'books' page on my website. It's great to see my 'complete works' all in one place, arranged in chronological order! I wonder if anyone has them all (apart from me)?
The Mindful Mann Festival
Just over two weeks ago, my family and I went over to the Isle of Man, in the middle of sea between England and Ireland. Both the festival and my trip to the island itself were such great experiences. The Isle of Man is a green oasis, such an unspoilt quiet friendly place, with so many lush green woods and beautiful beaches. It seems like a place out of time, with a special spiritual atmosphere, a kind of magical pagan
feeling that could easily give rise to poems and mystical experiences. I met so many lovely people at the festival and it was great to connect with Tim Freke, who also spoke there. Below is a photo from my talk.
Events
23rd July, London: An evening event on The Psychology of Time, with discussions and meditations to illustrate the amazingly elastic nature of time, and its connection to altered states of consciousness. Details here.
October 12th, Cambridge: a one day event with Peter Fenwick, on Spiritual Transformation and the Evolution of Consciousness. Details here.
Nov 2nd – a one day ‘Return to Harmony’ workshop in Edinburgh (my first ever event in Scotland!). Details here.
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 member of the section. More details here.
The Alchemy of Acceptance (new version)
As usual, I’d like to end this newsletter with poem. The most popular poetic piece I've written over the last four years (since The Calm Center was published) is 'The Alchemy of Acceptance.' It always gets a wonderful response when I read it aloud at events, or put it out on social media. I’ve been preparing my new book of poems for publication and realised that I missed out two very important aspects of acceptance: old age and
death. So I've added two extra verses. The only issue is that it makes the piece less concise - let me know if you think it works!
The Alchemy of Acceptance
Emptiness can be a vacuum
cold and hostile, dark with danger;
or emptiness can be radiant space
glowing with soft stillness -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
A task may seem tedious
a chore to rush through reluctantly:
or a task may seem rewarding
a process to relish, with an attentive mind
that reveals more richness, the more present you become -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Pain may seem unbearable
searing through you from a sharp, concentrated point
so that you have no choice but to resist
to try to escape, to push away the pain;
or pain can be a sensation
which you can move towards and merge with
which no longer has a centre, and dissipates through your being
until it becomes soft and numb, no longer pain at all -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Trauma can break you down to nothing
destroy the identity you spent your whole life building up
like an earthquake that leaves you in ruins;
or trauma can transform you
break open new depths and heights of you
give rise to a greater structure, a miraculous new self -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Life can be frustrating, and full of obstacles
with desires for a different life constantly disturbing your mind;
or life can be fulfilling, full of opportunities
with a constant flow of gratitude for the gifts you have -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Old age may be a process of decay
that withers your body and slows down your mind
and poisons you with bitterness and envy:
or old age may be a process of liberation
that lightens your soul, as you offload attachments,
and makes you more present, as you let go of the future
and enriches you with wisdom and serenity -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Death may seem like an emptiness
that makes everything you’ve achieved seem meaningless
and everything you own seem valueless -
or death may seem like a culmination,
a soft twilight at the end of a long summer’s day
when you’re filled with heavy tiredness and ready to sleep
and know that you will wake up again, to a bright new dawn,
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
all best wishes and blessings, Steve
|
|
|
|
