Tag: deep

Be a fanatic

Posted on by philipdodson
Japanese Characters by Philip Dodson (Oil on canvas board)

Life’s routines can overwhelm us and lead us down a path of repetition and a lack of sparkle.

Weeks, months, years even can drift by and often all we have done is the same, work, chores, the same places and the same people.

If, however, we have something that is a passion, a hobby, an interest, then that brings opportunity for new things, new experiences, new people, and it brings sparkle and joy.

In order for that to happen, you need to be a fanatic about something.

It could be art, music, walking, gardening, stamp collecting, bird watching, sailing, or whatever.

But having a mild interest won’t bring the magic, you need to jump in, you need to be fanatical about it to get the best.

Find something that you love and who know’s sometimes these fanatical pastimes become your life’s love and work.

Better than another whirr around the monotonous cog of a life of routine and conformity.

Craft

Posted on by philipdodson

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100’s of years ago before the mechanisation that the industrialised world brought to the human race, we were involved in work, art, music, or writing that involved craft.

We wrote letters with a quill dipped in ink on a scroll. We spent our time crafting beautiful letters.

We shaped wood into amazing things, we hammered iron into all manner of items, we made and created things with our hands, often made with joy and intimate knowledge and skill of how to.

Whatever we did it mainly involved concentration and often deep work with passion and feeling. It had a meaning.

In our world of email, social media, and instant gratification, we are desperately short of doing anything of meaning, substance and passion.

In order to fulfil ourselves and gain meaning to our existence, we need to add craft to whatever we are doing.

That requires attention and the removal of distraction. It needs us to learn focus and forget the shallow pings of the insubstantial world we have created.

Craft something remarkable and enjoy every moment.

There is a brilliant quote ‘we who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals’. We must envision something deeper rather than simply be adding yet another piece of digital content to the vast digital dustbin of much of the internet.

There is more.