Picture: Vishal Shah: Castles in the Sky Imagination, the engine of my creativity Ian Van Dahl’s millennium classic ‘Castles in the Sky’ conjures strong memories of my youth. Interpreting the lyrics as dreams of visionary projects or the impossible, few can deny the deep neural connections between music and imagination (Kaufman, 2000; Fries, 2009) or …
Continue reading "Embracing sandcastles: rekindling Imagination"
Last Autumn I shared the share the birth of a new society with Dr Mike Johnson and Morten Kure Kattenhøj. At hanfod.NL, we aim to build a community of phenomenological enquiry within networked learning. Despite all our positive thoughts and finger-crossing we were timed out with the continuing covid restrictions for our 2-day event and gathering …
Continue reading "hanfod.NL phenomenology goes online – June 2021"
Last week I was asked "why do you commit so much time and energy on talking about harmony, the SDGs, and the state of the planet, when it's all surely beyond your influence and control?" - the implication my time be best focused elsewhere... I supplied my usual impassioned answer.. scanning for the intended response. …
Continue reading "‘Adagio For Strings’ – an embodied answer to a question"
2020 is the year coined as 'one to forget but all will remember' - challenge, distress, grief and pressure, alongside resilience, adaptability, compassion and dedication.As Christmas day draws nearer, I reflect on the key themes of the second round of seasons of 'Emergent Thinkers.com' - change agency, sustainability, entrepreneurship & philosophical thinking, with a portion …
Thanks to Vanessa Randle - thinkingvisually.com for the new logo Phenomenology has become my passion since starting my doctorate. Enveloped by its underpinning philosophy, I have worked to develop my practice of phenomenological method and attitude. It's already been quite an adventure, opening up new networks, friendships, ways of seeing. I believe it will continue …
Continue reading "hanfod.NL, new phenomenological society and event"
Monday was powerfully poignant. Thoughts on purpose, presence, and the past. My youngest enjoyed her first day at nursery, presenting an unfamiliar, albeit very cute look. A loose gingham dress and formal black leather shoes. The profound impacts on the psychology of child and parent on a life milestone met, acknowledged, felt. A new phase …
Image: Sarah Trummer I'm used to falling down rabbit holes in my doctoral research, and do so quite deliberately, enjoying and valuing the adventure. The process satisfies 'wonder' through access to the new, the forgotten, the unnoticed or uncharted. Challenging thinking and cultivating insight, it can produce or trigger deliciously rich memorabilia [data] and new …
Continue reading "I spy with my little eye…something to do with ‘being’"
Image: Pompeo Batoni (1708–1787) National Trust, The Public Catalogue Foundation It is 'National Book Lovers Day', deliciously coinciding with my wonderful in-depth conversation with Kevin Watson of 'My Own Coach Ltd'. Recently, Kevin had invited his network to engage in his upcoming podcast series 'Words Matter'. An invitation for a one-to-one to discuss quotes, poems …
Continue reading "In celebration of ‘Pathic Writing’: a personal journey"
As a founding figure of ‘positivism’, Francis Bacon is very well-known for his promotion of the scientific method. This contrasts with my own researcher position as a phenomenologist. Subscribing to the belief that knowledge is obtained through both experience and observation, I adopt the view “science is useful for understanding many things, but not literally …
Continue reading "I’ll do my thinking with a spot of ginger and bacon!"
It’s hard to ignore the outgoing decade witnessed a growing disillusionment to deliver on happiness, particularly that born of personal fulfillment. 2020 heralds the dawn of a new decade. I look forward. Open to its new possibilities. Hope for a rebirth of consciousness of both the individual and collective mind. In contrast to previous episodes …
2019 meant facing a full year without Dad. Experiencing grief, day by day has felt like layers of myself being stripped away. There have been times when I’ve been totally despondent over everything that death represents. Yet, it has been said, grief can lead to transformation; from darkness will come light. I believe this is …
Picture: Vishal Shah: Castles in the Sky Imagination, the engine of my creativity Ian Van Dahl’s millennium classic ‘Castles in the Sky’ conjures strong memories of my youth. Interpreting the lyrics as dreams of visionary projects or the impossible, few can deny the deep neural connections between music and imagination (Kaufman, 2000; Fries, 2009) or …
Continue reading "Embracing sandcastles: rekindling Imagination"
