(good) stuff happens

Proof copy of book received today. It seems to have got itself written somehow; stuff happens.

One letter needs changing though, so a hasty re-write (hah) and a week added to production.

No worries.

do turkeys vote for christmas?

Would seem to be the theme of the shadow chancellor's austerity cutback speech today. Wage freezes for public sector workers and a raising of the retirement age.

Apart from the above fowl-related question, I wonder if anyone in the Conservative Party has questioned the ability of a Westminster government to deliver on such far-reaching promises now that a significant number of powers have been devolved to the, ahem, regions.

Health and education for instance.

happy

I'm so happy. Napster, the legal music streaming service has now slashed their monthly UK subscription rate to £5. Plus they've included 5 mp3 downloads each month for playing on ipods. (and yes unbranded mp3 players if you must)

So here's the future; download 5 mp3s a month and listen to unlimited streaming music with no ads, then fill in any gaps in your collection via itunes. (or napster if you prefer)

The war between itunes and music subscription services is now over. Can it really be that everybody won?

new book for October release

We Live in the Spaces Between the Stars. A book of silences and spaces, to help facilitate a quiet mind and a fourth state of consciousness.

This is the first product from Getting Quiet, and surprisingly comes before the actual release of the Getting Quiet course.

More news here as it happens.

the woman made unconscious by thought

Here’s a story I heard from a friend. One of his co-workers was babysitting her grandchild. She dozed off for a few minutes while looking after the baby and when she woke up the child was nowhere to be seen. She was understandably worried. Luckily she found the child in the house by the front door.

Her son (or daughter, I’m not sure) came by to collect the baby and everyone was safe and well.

However, at this point the grandmother began to think ‘what if?’.
She looked at her front door, it was unlocked.
She looked at her garden gate. It was open, and led onto a busy road.
She realized that the child could have crawled out of the house onto the road. She began to panic.

The child was safe, none of the above had happened, but the lady kept asking herself ‘what if?’.
She began hyperventilating, and passed out. She awoke and managed to see her doctor. She is fine and well.

The point, of course, is that the thoughts of ‘what if’ became too much for the grandmother. And yet these thoughts are not even as real as an image projected onto smoke.

Imagine the everyday harm we do ourselves through worry and anxiety over similar but smaller thoughts. Thoughts which are not even as substantial as light on smoke.

We need to take control of our thoughts. We need to get quiet.

www.gettingquiet.com

gwynfyd

is Welsh for bliss, nirvana, enlightenment. The state of mind which comes when your mind is silent.

Hence www.gwynfyd.co.uk, a companion site to www.gettingquiet.com, but yn Gymraeg. More news there, soon.

jumping for joy

Thanks to everyone who sponsored my parachute jump on Sunday. The weather was great, the people were fabulous and the jump was an experience I'll never forget.

After a short flight in what I can only describe as a dodgy shoebox I had one of the most surreal experiences of my life. The hardened parachutists jumped out of the door without so much as a geronimo.



As I perched out of the aircraft looking down I realised that this was without a doubt the stupidest thing I'd ever done, but also one of the most fun too. I'd recommend it.

If you'd like to give some money to cancer charity Tenovus you can still do so by following this link.