Sunday mornings and inner mechanics

It's Sunday morning and this morning can only be described with lovely, warm metaphors... Ones that would do justice to how blissful it is. Electric blanket, a good book, coffee, porridge, no alarm clock... The world is good today. It shall continue to be good partly because it's Sunday and days off are a rarity these days; they are to be used wisely. And it shall continue to be a good day because the things that I have to do are things that are really quite enjoyable things to do - at least they are for me! I need to do some more Uni work - write up client notes, perhaps make a start on this assignment, and do some jobs for my research job. All of which unashamedly, I don't mind doing at all. I will then spent this evening with some top people, so all in all it will be a grand Sunday.

A couple of things this week has taught me - ALWAYS use your wing mirrors... I really do need my drivers side mirror fixed. And I fear that the people I've asked to do it won't actually come through, so it might be an appropriate time to embrace and rely on my inner mechanic. Although it'd be more the work of a body work mechanic/engineer(??) than a diagnostic or engine mechanic. Thankfully it's only aesthetic functions rather than engine troubles, but nonetheless wing mirrors serve a useful purpose and one of mine is currently only half-functional. The second teaching of the week is to wear sufficient fluorescent clothing or a light whilst out running in the dark. I have been opting to only run on the main roads due to personal safety, but I hadn't fully considered the equipment I might need.. I ran into somebody. I literally ran into a man because it was so dark that neither of us could see the other. It was quite a comedic moment but it did make me realise that perhaps a light reflecting item of clothing would be more useful than running in an all black running outfit and having head on collisions with unsuspecting members of the public.

My final lesson of the week is not something I was unaware of, it was more a reminder of the power of somebody asking 'how are you?', and the expected response isn't just 'oh, I'm fine'. It was only a conversation with somebody who reminded me that there's a lot of value in being asked how you are. It's not to be brushed over or underestimated. Afterall, isn't that what I'm training to do - to ask people how they are and to help them get in touch with their true being. Not through seeking a response of how they think they should be, or how society expects them to be in certain situations, but for how they really are, underneath however many layers of protection they choose to wear, underneath all receipts of projected norms and expectations, and with no carefully filtered responses. Just permission to be accepting of it all. I wonder how we'd be if we were asked regularly how we are, not in passing by acquaintances on the street, but in conversation where the content of the response is just as important as the intent of the question.

Here are a couple of winter views I've passed by this week on my travels... Both in different parts of the county.