The Roads Less Travelled
<1197 words> Twice in the past 48 hours my GPS on my not so smart phone encouraged me onto roads very infrequently travelled. My standard mode of transport is a 9 year old Toyota Corolla – so middle of the road that I regularly have to use the little red button on the remote […]
PADDLING YOUR OWN CANOE
<1412 words> My summers in Nova Scotia are defined by the number of kayaking adventures I can pack into a week. Sometimes I go out alone – for quite long trips – ‘quite long’ in my books usually means several hours, not several days or weeks. Most often I am joined by friends or family […]
“The Answer to the Problem is Here, Inside You.”
<484 words> The other day I saw a wedding video on Facebook. A group of men performed the great and terrifying Maori haka with words especially written for the occasion. Millions have watched the video. Some people felt that the haka was threatening and/or insulting, but no, it is a great sign of respect, according to NewZealand.com […]
In Defence of Procrastination
I have been putting off writing this blog for a month now. Not because I’m lazy but because I’m not. Initially I thought it would be easy because I’m a very experienced procrastinator and would have a great deal to say about it. But then this academic thing kicked in – maybe I needed to explore some of the research because maybe the thoughts I have on the topic aren’t really valid.
Now THERE’s a great procrastinator’s hideout: go check the authorities rather than thinking the thing through with your own brain. This isn’t an academic treatise: it is an original blog by someone who sometimes has original thoughts.
By procrastinating I create that anxiety and tension because the clock is ticking: the deadline is looming (or as we say in our family “the dead lion doesn’t sleep tonight ahh.. whimeweh”).
Feelings are a life-saving device
It’s a short trip from contemplating physical pain to reflecting on psychic pain. What is the evolutionary purpose behind emotional pain? If evolution has brought us to where we are now, with our anxieties, fears, anger, depression and drug dependency, what were the original benefits of such emotions?
Consider how readily you reach for a painkiller when you have a bit of a headache, a spell of arthritis or a sprained ankle. You’ve experienced the pain and had enough of it. Your primary desire is to suppress it – if you can’t make it go away then at least you can suppress it. Perhaps there’s a deeper message in the pain though –