A blue light, almost bordering on purple this campervan morning. The sky is heavy, as is the air, everything hanging in stillness, not even a whiff of a breeze. A sense of being on the cusp of rain again. It still feels cool for a May morning, steam rising from coffee and the hint of breath on the air. So far, long tailed and blue tits are busy in the oak scouring branches for food. A lone magpie squawks its way around the top of the ash and a couple of blackbirds in the oak, as well as my usual singing companion in the ash. A pair of geese pass overhead heading west. That sense of having to remind myself it’s Tuesday today and not Monday, after the long bank holiday weekend. The writer and teacher George Saunders talks of the importance of the connection between what we feel and when we feel it. He writes that :
“ All coherent intellectual work begins with a genuine reaction “.
That connection and awareness of your reaction to an experience, a person, a situation. The word intellectual doesn’t sit well with me, it gives it a sense of exclusivity, which I don’t feel is right. Then again maybe he means thoughtful or considered, which would sit better with me. Some of the best music has been written in protest songs, love songs and angry songs, based on a genuine reaction. The frisson and expression of what we feel and when we feel it, that leading edge, that chemical reaction that overflows into expression in what ever chosen medium, be it art, music, conversation or writing. The cutting edge of this is the awareness of the reaction, what that reaction is, from a counselling perspective, is it mine or is it someone else’s, its exploration and following expression. A far too intellectual start to the day this campervan morning. The connection between what we feel and when we feel it. Lovely day people.
“ No worthy problem is ever solved in the plane of its original conception”. George Saunders.
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