‽istis is
utterly preoccupied (weekending May 18th 2024)
This week ‽istis
has been pretty much utterly preoccupied by an all-encompassing activity:
· learning
· new skills
· practice
· more learning
· more new skills
· more practice
· yet more learning
· yet more new skills
· yet more practice
· and yet more, yet more practice
· test…
On
reflection,
· ‘visualisation’ seemed to help – somehow knitting mind and body, conscious and subconscious and unconscious actions and reactions (beyond any atomised ‘muscle memory’ to an integrated capability) – running through stages and phases in theory and practice, with an open eye, closed eye and mind’s eye…
· finding and repeating little mantras seemed to help:
o ‘Trust the process’
o ‘Look. Look at the grass. Keep looking at the grass.’
o ‘Look where you’re going; go where you are looking.’
o ‘Look, look again.’
o ‘Look. Speed. Smooth stop.’
o ‘Look. Speed. Watch for the hand.’
o ‘Look. Speed. Outer cone. Back in line.’
You might have a go at guessing the activity…
Some bigger questions also seemed to hover:
· Why didn’t I do this sooner?
· Is it ever too late to teach an old dog new tricks?
· Tests may be required, but are they the best way to achieve excellence?
· Is it really possible to view ‘failure’ as a great opportunity to get better, and would that be any consolation; really?
And now, out the other end, ‽istis wonders who else might have been utterly preoccupied this week, and with what; who else might have been learning and facing a test – and how they coped…
Back in the more usual world of multiple occupations and activities (with a new certificate that suggests one was considered competent enough, at least in that brief moment in time and in that particular place) ‽istis listens to the news properly again, looks at the rest of the world both near and far and wonders what we might visualise and what ‘mantras’[i] might get us through, might help us to be good enough and to survive testing times:
·
‘This
too shall pass.’
·
‘No
peace without justice.’
·
‘It
will be alright in the end and if it’s not alright, it’s not yet the end.’
·
‘I’m
doing the best I can.’
·
‘Give
it the beans.’ (thanks to a family member for this one!)
·
Etc,
etc…
And ‽istis wonders at the power of auto-suggestion and recalls the words of Emile Coué from a century ago: 'Every day, in every way I'm getting better and better'[ii]
…are we, really‽
©‽istis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this
week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies,
retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very
opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders.
X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[i]
And, at a quick glance, if you type ‘Mantras for the modern world’ into a search
engine there seem to be many, many suggestions as to what could be the ‘most
influential’ phrases and sayings of all time and for now…
[ii]
Many references including: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2017/44/every-day-in-every-way
