A Meditathon, join in on November 25th

Dear Reader,

Are you a meditator?  Would you like to be a meditator?  Well, long term meditator or new to it, here is a chance to give it a try in the company of both old and new meditators and to make it a more important date for you, here is why.  

Look at it this way, the more passengers who go to one side of a boat or a bus, the more likely it is to tip the balance of the vessel.  

Meditation changes things, it can transform a person but it can transform an atmosphere so if you have any spare time on November 25th, any few minutes, any half hour or longer, join us on November 25th anytime between 7.30 am GMT to 7.30 pm GMT please register on Eventbrite and I will send you a link to join us.  Let's tip the balance towards the importance of a quieter mind, a more considered way of communicating by quieting our own minds ...together.

We will have an encouraging reading every 30 minutes to cheer us on.  I haven't ever spent a whole day, a whole 12 hours without moving (much!) so your support will be invaluable.

Hope you might feel inspired to join in by clicking this link

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/just-this-day-join-a-meditatathon-tickets-128131190841

xxxx 

The tale of a boy needing all our support

                                                                                          

I haven't been  moved to add to the blog for a long time, maybe we have all been hunkered down in survival mode thinking of our own futures.  But now I am moved to write and hope that you will be moved when you hear the story of Alex, a talented young dancer who against a whole heap of difficulties in his early life forged a great future as a professional dancer but who has been stopped in his tracks by a broken neck.  This is no ordinary boy though and his story will have you alternately reaching for the Kleenex and then hopefully clicking on the go fund me and donate to his future recovery.  When I met him, he was a teenager, full of energy and enthusiasm for his chosen life of dance.  What I saw about him was that the dance wasn't in his feet it was in his eyes and when you watch the film you will see that the dance is still there

He will tell you in his own words how he broke his neck.  One moment, playing frisbee with friends, the next facedown in the river facing a new rather daunting set of obstacles.  Pulled out by friends, resuscitated by paramedics, intensive care, operations, Stoke Mandeville and now working working working on his future.  Let's get going and make that future dance.  Click the blue writing to take you to the Go Fund Me page.

MAGNIFICENCE! DON'T MISS THIS LOCKDOWN TREAT

It arrived this morning, the book we had been waiting for.  It is called Magnificence and is the product of one man's love of the Medieval Period and his particular talent in letting us join him in discovering our own love of Beauty and Magnificence, maybe our Magpie tendency to be drawn to the glittering jewel encrusted past.
MAGNIFICENCE AND PRINCELY SPLENDOUR IN THE MIDDLE AGES

A highly and beautifully illustrated book, written by bestselling author Richard Barber, shows how medieval princes proclaimed their special status through displays of magnificence.

We know Richard from sailing on the River Deben and having a real eye for beauty, both in his house and his garden and this book is an expression of that.  It is that eye coupled with his extensive understanding of the Middle Ages which make this such a winner of a book.  

You can get your copy from Amazon and Grandpa who you see here, so pleased with his new copy, recommends it as perfect reading for the enforced leisure time we are currently having.  

Look how pleased Grandpa is with his copy.  You will be too so get your copy while you have time to read it!

"How do you recognise a king when you see one?  By the thirteenth century, the special status, which had evolved over the centuries, was matched by the display of kingly grandeur. This was enshrined in the idea of "magnificence". Magnificence was seen as the king's duty, was applied to everything: his person, the garments he wore, his courtiers, the artists, the musicians and architects he employed. Above all, it was on show in his public appearances, his feasts and ceremonies. The "magnificent" collections of jewels, manuscripts and holy relics were displayed to a handful of favoured visitors. Those visitors also had to be entertained, and royal feasts developed into an amazing form of performance art.

This book is not only about objects and occasions, but also about people, the people who created them, from the kings and their courtiers to the artists, craftsmen and musicians, down to the scribes and clerks, the showmen, dancers and acrobats, and the servants at table.
Pageantry and displays of splendour always catch our attention, and medieval feasts and tournaments are among the most popular forms of historical re-enactment today. Magnificence celebrates many of the high points of the medieval world, drawing them together in a sumptuous volume which is at least an echo of the wonderful illuminated manuscripts which these kings collected."