Newsletter Number Two
In which I discuss mental health and mindfulness for the last time; a book recommendation on awareness; enjoy getting battered and humiliated at the beach; and finally go travelling. Enjoy.
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Hi all,
Hello again to ye all and welcome to any new subscribers who’ve joined this week. I hope ye enjoy these newsletters and maybe get something out of them. As always, sharing is caring, so do forward them on to anyone you think might enjoy them as well, and any comments or criticisms is always appreciated too.
We need information to survive, but we don’t always make use of this information properly. I’m loathe to use the word efficiently, as life is not about efficiency, and survival requires a certain amount of redundancy – when things go wrong, something or some piece of knowledge will keep you alive, and you don’t always know which one.
We are also plagued these days with an over-abundance of information, to the point where having all of civilisations recorded history and information available in our pockets, all the time, is actually detrimental to our health. We just don’t know where to look, or how to look. And so this newsletter is not about giving you more information. I’ve long suspected that it does little for anyone’s benefit to read another Top 10 List of Information, and none of us ever follow the warnings or advice unless we want to anyway.
And what makes us want to do something? Stories. We tell ourselves and our friends stories that inspire them to do as we have done, or tales of caution that protect them from recklessness. Life is a series of stories we tell ourselves and others in order to try and navigate is as safely and successfully as possible.
Every so often I’m asked what I’m writing about, or take a step back to personally reflect on the point of it all. And in trying to connect the dots between how I connect my interests in writing about diverse things such as travelling Asia and life in Mayo; psychology and activity; meditation and surfing; being active and working hard towards things and not over-stressing myself. The one real overall theme that connects all of these things for me in my writing is: stories.
And so this week’s articles contain a more coherent and more reflective template for what’s to come, last week perhaps a necessary dive into the ocean before figuring out the best technique for swimming (though I’m confident I can tread water at this stage). I began with a missive of sorts, almost a rant before I tried to rein in the tone a little bit, a counter-argument to a hypothetical (though common) criticism of positive psychology, mental health discussions, and buzzwords like mindfulness or meditation. I’m not sure what you’re expecting from this newsletter with regards well-being and such, but I hope it’s the last time I have to write so directly about it. To go back to what my writing is about, this is a kind-of long-form dictionary definition.
To supplement this, I’ve also written my second brief book recommendation, inspired by the first article about mindfulness. It’s simply called ‘Awareness’, and is an accessible spiritual philosophy book for people who mightn’t be into that sort of thing, written in a friendly grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-tell-you-to-get-a-hold-of-yourself style, for the more practically-minded of you.
Now that the scaffold is set, a back-story of sorts, I can get on with my real job: telling stories. And so we continue Learning to Surf, this time in Enniscrone and reminiscing on sunnier pre-lockdown days. The water will be a lot colder when I get back to the beach, though this week’s story reminded me that it’s not about always about having the best days of your life.
And finally, the point of it all: Travel Diary #1 (last week’s was a kind of prologue, a bunch of details with no connecting narrative or point other than that you make of them what you will). Continuing the theme of meditation and mindfulness, I recount my first time attempting to meditate. Though in a story that’s partially set at a meditation retreat, I’ve neglected to use the M word at all. Because I want to go beyond the imparting of information, and show some practical application.
If you’re going to read one of this articles, I’d recommend this one, as each week’s articles exist often just to introduce these stories; the stories are what ties everything together. Not all my stories will be directly about mental health, or meditation. But equally, not all my travel stories are about travel. They’re simply exercises in drawing my own attention and yours to different things. Who knows where it’ll take us?
The foundation of any story is attention.
The foundation of mental health is attention.
The foundation of awareness is attention.
I hope this hasn’t confused things. As I said, I want to move on from explaining things and onto letting the stories speak for themselves. I hope my escapades surfing around Mayo and Sligo (for now) aren’t too inane and there’s something to be learned from them. And that my travel stories reveal something a bit more meaningful than the typical Instagram-posing that was culturally endemic until the pandemic put a stop to it, maybe for the best (I’ve done my fair share of it).
Sorry for going on a bit, I think I’m enjoying writing these newsletters too much. They help me to piece together my week’s writing, and hopefully do the same for you, though every article and story is to be enjoyed on its own, in any order. If this is enough reading for one day, then do follow the links to the articles throughout the week (I’m getting closer to my aim of delivering these on Sunday mornings, to be enjoyed throughout the day if you’re inclined).
Remember, the aim is to ease the mind, not overwhelm it.
As always, thanks for reading, and please do share this with anyone you think might enjoy it. I’d also love to hear from you if you’ve any comments or suggestions, or if there’s any other feedback you’d like to give.
All the best,
Gav
Article links:
I’d love to hear your feedback, so please do leave a comment. And as always, sharing is caring.