Sunday 22 December 2013

Facing down the demons

"I know that i could never do nothing."
"I think you'd better start getting rid of that frame of mind as soon as possible ... otherwise....it's all right to want to do something - but it's not all right to do something just because you're afraid of doing nothing."
Losing self, identity and ego:
".... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave."
To what extent is ego necessary? Iris Murdoch thought the ego was messy - and hampered clear vision and perception of truth. Need to read more about her idea of 'unselfing."
But perhaps politicians need ego: perhaps activists do.
Three days until Christmas: the tree is cut.

Reading and watching

  • Foot by Foot to Santiago de Compostela/Judy Foot
  • The Testament of Mary with Fiona Shaw at the Barbican
  • The Testament of Mary/Colm Toibin
  • Schwanengesang/Schubert - Tony Spence
  • Journals/Robert Falcon Scott
  • Fugitive Pieces/Ann Michaels
  • Unless/Carol Shields
  • Faust/Royal Opera House
  • The Art of Travel/Alain de Botton
  • Mad Men Series 6
  • A Week at The Airport/Alain de Botton
  • The Railway Man/Eric Lomax
  • Bright Lights, Big City/Jay McInerney
  • Stones of Venice/John Ruskin
  • The Sea, the Sea/Iris Murdoch
  • Childe Harold/Lord Byron
  • All The Pretty Horses/Cormac McCarthy
  • Extreme Rambling/Mark Thomas
  • Story of my Life/Jay McInerney
  • Venice Observed/Mary McCarthy