Journal 2020-11-14

I’ve been writing a thought a day here for the previous few days. I will flip now to an actual pen and paper because the closeness to the handwritten words feels more personal to me.

Journal 2020-11-13

If you are truly happy, it is impossible to be petty, self-absorbed or unkind. Happiness lives in a much better place.

Journal 2020-11-12

Cats and dogs are similar, only in that they both like living with you. Cats are beautiful, elegant, magical; it feels like you are honoured if they grace you with their attention. Dogs love you - all they want is to run and play, sniff things, eat food, and most importantly: your affection.

Journal 2020-11-11

I form tears when I’m moved in any meaningful way - so if I produce them in a performance, I’m not pretending, I’m genuinely feeling what I’m doing.

Journal 2020-11-10

I add to a file any interesting little phrases that occur to me, removing them later on if used in a song or other writing; for example, I just added: “A lived life transcends its genre.”

In retrospect similar phrases may grate on the ear with cheesiness, but if I like the sentiment at the time, then it goes in.

The content is currently about 8,000 words.

Journal 2020-11-09

If you choose to share in the happiness of others, rather than compulsively dwelling on negatives, then you have happiness for free.

Journal 2020-11-08

I seem to get satisfaction out of pushing myself physically – maybe because in my mind I am subscribing to the motto “no pain, no gain”. A variation on the theme is that anything initially perceived as negative can be viewed as part of a greater improvement process.

Journal 2020-11-07

Writing a screenplay for a romance story... it’s a bit sexy!

I might develop it into a novel later, if I can make the time.

Activities

Inventions:

• Most importantly: Trendline Syncing System (TSS) – an algorithmic trading model.
• First To 7 – strategy board game.
• Also: WIBAMU Easy Accounts – simple accounting system for small businesses.

Songwriting:

Yes, many songs are online.

Other writing:

Some pieces are available but the bulk is within unfinished projects – would like to actually finish something substantial.

Singing:

Yep, lots of recordings.

Acting:

Yes, years of research and practice – looking to greatly expand this in the future by filming scenes and podcasts.

Public speaking:

I know this is a strength but haven’t pursued it yet.

Off and On

The old line with IT is that if you want a problem fixed “turn it off then on again”. The reason is that resetting can untangle mixed-up memory and processes.

The mind if not switched off will often relentlessly loop on the same set of thoughts, gradually wearing you down, sometimes with its own errors and fictions.

There are exercises that help you apply the IT solution, and they’ve worked for thousands of years.

Journal 2020-11-06

Tip:

Whenever you are talking about someone, assume they can hear every word. Hopefully this will remind you to be kinder.

Journal 2020-11-05

I wouldn’t call London a beautiful city, but it is endlessly fascinating. The maze of streets emerged not by grand design but grew from what had been before. It is eccentric, hickety-pickety, throbbing with history and humanity.

Journal 2020-11-04

Muddled, confused, unaware - what on earth were you doing? Why were you sleep-walking for so long?

Journal 2020-11-03

In the distant pre-internet days when I was a kid, I designed a board game then forgot all about it. The game actually looks pretty fun; it has a blend of strategy, risk and probability - like many good games. So I think I’ll have a few physical sets made-up, thanks to the internet and finding out there are specialist businesses that do this sort of thing.

Combining football with golf was another one of my games, which I called “Folf”. Well if I had the internet, I would have been able to find out that the sport has been around for a while and is called “Foot Golf”.

Journal 2020-11-02

Just 15 years ago or so, it wasn’t particularly easy to share photos and updates with friends and family; there were fewer easily accessible outlets for self-expression and it was more difficult to find interesting information or media.

The downsides are well-known, although if fully acknowledged there would be more energy in finding effective solutions. There was a speed in breaking things but less appetite in clearing-up the mess.

Journal 2020-11-01

I walk and run about 50 miles per week, usually while listening to podcasts.

Journal 2020-10-31 (cont.)

My most effective thinking tool is sleep. I realise now the importance of the advice “sleep on it”.

Journal 2020-10-31

I yo-yo between the Southwark part of the Thames and the Colchester countryside. Many of my scenes are from what I see during my wanderings: robertwalker.blog/art

The Compassion Override

In history there are countless examples where twisted interpretations of beliefs lead to the justification, or even glorification, of murderous and sadistic tendencies. Such beliefs give a person an identity in opposition to and superiority over other people, who can be condemned and abused from a position of personal righteousness.

True compassion serves as a natural safety valve to corrupted belief, for the overriding question is always: am I alleviating suffering or causing it?

Journal 2020-10-30

Original thinkers, artists and spiritual figures often had some of their best insights in the wilderness, in periods of solitude, outside of bustling society. Distance from the current melees gives a person a better perspective of the whole picture. More generally, insiders of the throng who are unaware of their predicament are condemned to behave as they think they are supposed to, blind to anything more than the current array of behaviours, even in extreme cases where it is insane.