Oh hi, Mike. It’s been a while.
Hey there. Yo.
I see you’re still trying to sound trendy. You do know “yo” is an ’80s thing?
Not necessarily. In Spanish it means “me”.
So you’re admitting you’re a narcissist?
It is always such a pleasure when you drop by. I’ve really, really missed it.
It’s a late January day in 1754, and Horace Walpole, writer and 4th Earl of Orford, is scratching out a letter to his friend Horace Mann.
It’s one of those “things are tolerable, old boy, if tedious and rather wearying” letters that English people have excelled at for hundreds of years, so let’s skip to the interesting part…
Meditation is a fantastic way to calm your mind, so you’re more in touch with the Great Outdoors when you’re out in it.
However, outdoor meditation can be challenging – and usually requires a tailored approach.
Here are three meditations that I’ve found super-useful while hiking in the UK.
As you probably know by now, I’m a lover of the absurd but rather magnificent practice of occasionally pretending bedrooms don’t exist.
This involves finding somewhere else to sleep, like perched on the side of a hill, or suspended between two trees in a hammock – or, thankfully very rarely, in a corner of a field in Orkney with the rain hammering down on me.
All this sounds extremely foolish until you have a go – then it’s just mostly foolish, but also enormously life-affirming in a way it’s difficult to put your finger on. I’d recommend it to anyone.
It’s also, as I noted in my last post, a good way to battle insomnia and muddled sleep patterns – and, once you get past the nervy thrill of not having four walls around you for a change, it can relax your stressed-out brain and body an absolute shedload.
Fancy giving it a go? Because this Saturday, the night of the 11th July, there’s the perfect excuse.
Things to do when bored – the ultimate WTF-seriously guide to finding something to do when you’re at a loose end.
(Originally written in 2012; updated May 2020)
Hey. So I saw your tweet. You’re “bored”?
These are weird times. Hope you’re okay.
Here’s a thing I’ve now learned about a pandemic lockdown: if you don’t have a home to lock yourself down in (because you sold a house last summer and intended to spend a year renting your way around Europe) – well, you have to rethink your plans very quickly.
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