Stuart Eglin Online

Stuart Eglin Online

Buddhism Part Four – what I believe

Feb 5

Posted by Stuart in Personal Development | No Comments

As the years go by I get closer to calling myself a Buddhist. It is something which I aspire to, and something which I am not entirely confident that I am yet. That is because I do not have such a thing as a daily practise.

But I do use the principles of Buddhism to guide my thinking and my actions. I find the principles both illuminating and supportive. I also think that my training in philosophy has left me feeling that Buddhism is the best fit with a rational mind.

Atheism seems to be a scientific principle without a psychological understanding. It’s too easy. Too simplistic. There must be more than just random acts of atoms. When I look for Jungian synchronicities I find them – I find these links and ‘coincidences’ that lead me to believe that there are forces, unifying characteristics that make no sense without the ghost in the machine.

There needs to be a link between us all, a reincarnation, and a collective unconscious for everything to fit together and be coherent. And the moral principles of Buddhism help us to live a life that has the happiness that makes for a fulfilled life. Without this we enter a nihilistic version of living that makes one wonder what it heads towards.

Earlier posts:

Part Three
Part Two
Part One

Tags:

Buddhism Part Three – adolescence and psychedelia

Feb 1

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Personal Development | No Comments

As I passed through adolescence and my curiosity grew, I became more interested in psychology and philosophy. I was given ‘Memories, Dreams and Reflections’ by C G Jung as a present by a good friend. This was Jung’s autobiography. In it I discovered that Jung had explored the religions of the world in his quest for understanding. He ended his life a very spiritual man, and whilst it is not clear what particular religious perspective he favoured, he was clearly very focused on Buddhism for large parts of his life. He wrote the introduction to a number of Buddhist books. In particular, he wrote the foreword to D T Suzuki’s ‘An Introduction to Zen Buddhism’ – this foreword was a thirty page commentary on the book itself. I hunted the book down and read it – understood very little (I was still a teenager) but felt really excited by the power of the aphorism. The idea that a short phrase could cause so much tension in the mind and pull apart existing concepts was amazing. There are many examples of these phrases or koans – perhaps the most famous being:

 ”Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?”

 This phrase resonated with me for years, and versions of it appear in many of my poems, particularly in the collection ‘Zen Words’ (2003).

 At this age I was also listening to an increasingly diverse spread of music. Psychedelic music was introducing me to the idea of meditation, as was ambient music. In particular, I explored the music of Gong and Daevid Allen. Beyond the references to drugs and drug-induced altered states, and the obsession with pixies and silly worlds, there was a playfulness of words that drew my attention. It was clear to me that much of the thinking about alternative worlds and altered states borrowed heavily from ideas in Buddhism.

 Ambient music was also bringing me closer to the ideas of mindfulness – states of mind where it is possible to shift to different planes of consciousness. Rightly or wrongly, I thought that the route to all of this was probably through exploring Buddhism in more depth.

 See the first two parts of this series on Buddhism here:

Part One  – an introduction

Part Two – the early spiritual journey

Tags:

After years of resisting iPod

Jan 30

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Music | No Comments

For years now I have been a resistor of the Cult of iPod. Everyone I know has an iPod – most of them have large capacity iPod Classics. I bought an iriver H340 nearly 5 years ago. I struggled with it at first because it has an awful user interface. Then along came Rockbox, an Open Source firmware which can run on the iriver (and on some ipods too) which gives much more flexibility to using an mp3 player. It made the machine fly – and I really enjoyed using the machine for listening to music, running playlists, listening to podcasts, and recording short memos when I was travelling and had ideas.

Well, I ran out of capacity on the 40GB machine some time ago, and hunted for a replacement. After a long time hesitating, I decided to jump in the Apple pool and an iPod Classic 160GB came my way for Christmas.

Am I enjoying it? Yes, I am. I still don’t have all of my CD collection on there yet – but it’s doing all the things I wanted.  A relatively new feature, Genius playlists, is particularly brilliant for mixing a playlist based on the track currently playing. It also has Genius Mixes which puts together streams of tracks based on a particular theme – which is determined by the content of the player.

I was a reluctant user of iTunes, but it works well even if it is a bit slow (probably because my laptop is ancient!) It handles podcasts beautifully. And the iPod’s handling of video is fantastic.

I was also really pleased to see that I can also record on the iPod. I bought a little plug in microphone on Amazon for just £4 and it opens up software which is already on the machine. I can record memos on the go and then listen to them back. I’ve also used this feature to record ambient sounds when out walking.

As I write this I am listening to a Podcast from WFMU called Downtown Soulville (obscure soul 45s). All in all I am impressed.

Tags: , ,

Stuff Happens

Jan 6

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts | No Comments

Just when everything is floating along, stuff happens. My father died on 24th November. In the weeks leading up to his death he was in heart failure and was in and out of hospital.

I’ll be back posting here in the next week or so, but thought I should explain the gap….

Comments and Registering

Nov 23

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts | Comments off

I’m afraid I have had to change the default for posting comments to the blog. The site has been subject to a sustained spam attack for a few days now. As a result, I have had to stop open comments for each blog post. For at least the next couple of weeks, comments can only be made if you register. Sorry about this. I’ll try to change it back again once things quieten down. Any useful comments for dealing with this can be sent to me using the contacts tab at the top of the page. Thanks for your patience.

Tags:

November Suite

Nov 12

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Writing, Θ Poetry | No Comments

I’m in the middle of an exercise to write a poem a day for November – the resulting collection, once edited, will be called ‘November Suite’. I am using various exercises to generate material. For example, I take the last line of the previous poem and google that phrase. Then I follow the links and harvest phrases and words from the pages that I find, using the material which this produces to steer the sense of the poem. 

The following poem was created using a phrase which I stumbled across – this became the title of the poem and was then put through google. This is an early draft, but I like the direction it follows:

The Voice of Wittgenstein

 “After several attempts to weld my results together
The best I could write would never be more
Than philosophical remarks

My thoughts would soon be crippled
If I tried to force them on
Against their inclination”

An anti-systematic attitude
Like John Cage’s music or Stockhausen
A permanent condition

Numbered aphorisms, as though
The world of existence could be reduced
To a set of interwoven statements

 Everything succumbing to the power of language
Different voices in dialogue
The first of the post-modernists

 Voice 1, then Voice of Tradition
Voice of Perplexity
And the Voice of Clarity

 These voices are inside my head
All at once, they seize language
Mess with it, precise but dissective

Taking objects and making of them
A contradiction, a complexity
Confusion that removes sense of self

Uttering a word, a phrase – I love you
Lost in translation, in perplexity
A permanent condition.

[20:30]

Tags: ,

A lifetime of ECM

Nov 2

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Books and Book Reviews, Music | No Comments

ECMBack in the mid-70s when I was at school, a friend of mine (hi, Peter) gave me a tape which had on it an album by Jan Garbarek and one by Keith Jarrett. This was the beginning of an obsession with the music to be found on the ECM label. I have continued to be a collector of music by both Garbarek and Jarrett, as well as many other artists on the label including Terje Rypdal, Ketil Bjornstad, John Surman, Misha Alperin and Dino Saluzzi.

ECM is unusual in the world of record labels because it has such a strongly defined aesthetic. The label produces an incredibly diverse range of artists, but there is always that ECM sound which is difficult to define, but very easy to identify.

So, after so much music, I am writing about ECM again now because they have just produced two wonderful albums:

  • Jan Garbarek Group -Dresden
  • Keith Jarrett – Testament: Paris / London

Both are live albums. I was surprised to realise that this is the first live album for Garbarek. It’s a double album, and captures the excitement of seeing him live. The group has gone through some changes over recent years, partly because of bass player Eberhard Weber’s stroke. He is replaced by Yuri Daniel. This is a tough place to fill – Weber’s playing is so distinctive. Daniel’s playing is beautiful, lyrical and underscores Garbarek’s saxophone perfectly. The other change is Manu Katche on drums – he has worked with Garbarek a lot recently. He replaces Marilyn Mazur. She was always more of a percussionist than a straightforward drummer. Katche brings more of a rock drummer feeling to the music. Between them, Katche and Daniel make for a very different rhythm section which brings some different interpretations of some of the older material. Rainer Bruninghaus remains as the keyboard player, his playing ranging from the frenetic to the achingly lyrical.

The Keith Jarrett album is a triple album covering two live concerts from last year. I’m always amazed by Jarrett’s live work. The idea that he appears on stage to improvise new compositions then and there is remarkable. He says that he always begins with an empty mind – no preconceived ideas. Then, through a series of pieces (short for Jarrett)  he builds a collection of 20 remarkable performances. They are incredibly diverse. The two concerts are very different. As ever, Jarrett is at his best when he searches out a rhythmic melody and then works it to a beautiful conclusion. This is an extremely emotionally laden collection – his best work for years.

So, from two artists who I first heard nearly 35 years ago, come two beautiful albums. A real treat.

If you like the work of Garbarek, and would like to read a book about his music, I think the best book available is probably Michael Tucker’s “Jan Garbarek: Deep Song” – the book focuses on the music of Garbarek but it is also a marvellous exposition of the broader work of ECM.

Tags: , ,

Print on Demand

Oct 30

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Writing | No Comments

I am looking at print-on-demand publishing services like Lulu.com and Createspace.com. Both of them offer services which mean that you can turn a pdf file into a book manuscript which can then be printed off as a book. These can be printed when required so rather than printing a thousand books and watching them gather dust in cardboard boxes, it is possible to print off individual copies as required at an economically viable cost.

Now, unless I am much mistaken, some detailed research suggests that Lulu is probably a better service if you are based in the UK, because the other service (which is owned by Amazon) only prints in the US.

There is also the option to produce books through both services, although this might be somewhat cumbersome. Any views on the two services are welcome – just post a comment on this post.

I’m going to use this service in the next few weeks to produce the first couple of books. This is a real move forwards for my publishing press (bluewater books), which until now has only produced hand-printed chapbooks. I’m looking forward to experimenting, and will blog about the progress with it over the coming weeks.

Tags: ,

Keep it Simple Stupid

Oct 23

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Writing, Θ Archetypes at Work | 1 Comment

DriftwoodI am in the middle of a few hours working on the ‘Archetypes at Work’ manuscript. I have pushed the word count up to 18,000 words which is really encouraging.

I have just used a quote from Bartok:

“What is new and significant must always be connected with old roots, the truly vital roots that are chosen with great care from the ones that merely survive.”

In striving to produce something startlingly different which pushes into new territory we always need to help the process of communication by creating hooks for the audience. Bartok did it by pushing music into new soundscapes whilst drawing heavily on the folk and ethnic music of his homeland, Hungary. He and Zoltan Kodaly were active musicographers – generating a growing archive of the history of Magyar music. This simultaneous exploration of the historical context with the pushing out into new territory is key to charting new territory.

So, complexity for its own sake, working against the conventions just to be obtuse is counter-productive.

I read a book a few a few years ago by an academic from Warwick University, Gibson Burrell (now at Leicester). The book was called ‘Pandemonium’. It was about a post-modernist approach to organisation studies. In keeping with the subject it was laid out in an unusual format with the text working from front to back for the top half of the page, then from back to front for the bottom half. It was an imaginative approach which worked well. A departure from the norm – but there was a clear guide to get the reader through the book.

So, the point of this post is to remind me that if I experiment, I need to ensure that the communication is not lost because of the lack of cues or clues for the reader. In the words of the title, by all means explore complex issues and enjoy the journey – but remember the acronym KISS – keep it simple stupid!

Tags: ,

Scrapes against the soul – why so long?

Oct 21

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Writing, Θ Poetry | No Comments

I said in mid-September that I had nearly completed the latest poetry manuscript, ‘Scrapes against the Soul’. Well, I have been stuck on the last poem for a few weeks now. It is a long piece which captures my experiences of Liverpool in the late 70s and early 80s.

I’m hoping to have it finished before the end of this month. As soon as it is finished I will be posting a pdf for free download – and it will possible to buy a hard copy of the book too, very soon.

I have also begun work on Collected Poems: Volume One which covers 1985 to 1996. More news on this very soon.

Tags: , ,

Carol Ann Duffy at Wirral Book Fest

Oct 13

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts | No Comments

carol_ann_duffyDo you ever buy tickets for something, think it’s a good idea at the time, then have serious second thoughts as the date looms? I saw this event recently – the Poet Laureate for the UK appearing at a reading in the Wirral. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss.  But on the night, I was wondering whether there would be a tiny audience. Poetry readings can be tedious to say the least!

I was surprised – 300 people turned up. They weren’t disappointed. The evening began with 3 young poets from the Wirral Young Poet Laureate scheme who each read a group of poems.

Carol Ann Duffy presented for just under an hour. Her readings were magnificent. Just the right amount of explanation, description and context setting for each poem. I loved her poems based on myths, with a feminist twist or a different take. Excellent. She ended the reading with a poem she had been working on that afternoon – a poem about war, with many place names read out like the tolling of a bell. The presence of local place names gave a particular resonance to this. Powerful stuff.

The evening was organised by the local library service – it’s good to see something which draws in readers and writers to the enjoyment of literature. And it was also great to have some of my preconceptions dispelled so effectively. A good night out.

Tags: ,

David Sylvian – Manafon

Oct 11

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Music | No Comments

david_sylvian_manafonRegular readers of my blog over the last few years will know that I love the music of David Sylvian and have been a big fan since the early days of Japan back in the 70s. His solo career has been an eclectic and diverse mix of albums with a stunning array of musicians from jazz, avant garde and ambient.

His latest album was talked about on internet based mailing lists for the few weeks before release, and there were clips on his website to listen to. It was clearly not going to be an easy listen. Alongside Christian Fennesz who worked with Sylvian on his last solo album (the stunning track “Fire in the Forest” from ‘Blemish’) are a wide range of avant garde musicians including Evan Parker and John Tilbury.

It has taken me a couple of weeks to get to listen to this album properly. It is not the sort of album to put on in the background. Over the last few days I have listened to it on headphones. Sylvian’s voice is placed way up in the mix and the other instruments create a subtle soundtrack in the background. Most of this is missed unless you use headphones. It is a difficult listen, but one that is rewarded massively. The sounds are so stripped down that it takes a while to figure out what is going on. But there is structure here, and the lyrics and voice of Sylvian hold the whole thing together. Many critics, including Ian Penman writing in the latest issue of The Wire, say that they have lost it with Sylvian. They think that he has pushed his music into a cul-de-sac. I don’t agree. I think this album is a staggering achievement. To take the fractured, fragmented and skeletal sounds of the two groups which he worked with on this album and craft the resulting work, is remarkable.  I feel like I have really only scraped the surface of the nuances in this music. It is a work that truly repays the effort put in.

Tags: ,

Friday Playlist #5

Oct 9

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Music, Playlists | No Comments

A lot of posts to this blog are about music at the moment. There’s a lot of stunning music around to listen to. Here’s a Friday playlist:

1. Porcupine Tree – The Incident

Already reviewed this. It’s their best album to date. The range of music and variety from intense to melodic.

2. David Sylvian – Manafon

Review coming – music that requires effort to listen to. Worth it for the pay-back.

3. Jonsi & Alex- Riceboy Sleeps

Best ambient album I have heard in a while.

4. The Duckworth Lewis Method – The Duckworth Lewis Method

An album about cricket from two Irishmen! Neil Hannon from Divine Comedy shows what a great lyricist he is. It’s ELO meets 10CC.

5. Madness – The Liberty of Norton Folgate

A concept album from Madness – whatever next. Great tunes and a massive track to finish the album.

6. Bach – Mass in B Minor

Listening to this is like a marvellous antidote to modern living.

7. Porcupine Tree – Stupid Dream

An older album by the band – not as good as the new one, but great tunes and it really rocks.

8. A-ha – Foot of the mountain

I’ve always loved the music of A-ha. This new album by them is a return to form (a cliche I know, but it is!)

9. Jan Garbarek Group -Dresden

If you search for Garbarek in this blog you’ll find earlier reviews including a live concert I saw. This new double live album is wonderful. Eberhard Weber is still not around, due to having had a stroke, but this new line-up produce great music.

10. Keith Jarrett – Testament: Paris / London

ECM go from strength to strength. This is a live triple CD of two concerts. Spontaneous composition / improvisation. Beautiful melodies plucked out of the air by Jarrett.

Tags: , ,

Archetypes at Work – Notes for a book #3

Oct 5

Posted by Stuart in Writing, Θ Archetypes at Work | No Comments

Archetypal Descriptors are evident in the work of Handy, Morgan and Neville & Dalmau. In most cases a formal mythological framework is used. Most commonly this tends to be Greek Mythology, since this is a symbolic structure with a wide currency. Having set out the limits to the approaches already developed in this area, the Archetypal Casting Toolkit  which I have developed is contrasted with this metaphorical approach. The work of Morgan is central to metaphor and organisations. My development in this field sets out to demonstrate that analysis of this form is a useful background to more detailed specific work on individual analysis.

In interpreting the interactions of communities as they exist in the organisational context, it is important to ensure that the overall approach avoids the tendency to over-simplify. This is the weakness of a metaphorical approach alone that focuses too much on the organisation as an entity in itself, rather than unravelling in more depth the interactions and complexities of the numerous scripts that are in evidence.

However, the use of archetypes as themes that can be used as overlays, can generate evidence of the type of culture that prevails, a way of interpreting what is going on.

Tags: , ,

Porcupine Tree – The Incident

Sep 18

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Music | No Comments

PTreeJust a couple of listens so far, but the new album by Porcupine Tree is a wonderful thing to behold (whose line is that?)

It’s a two disc collection – the first disc comprising an extended piece of 55 minutes. In the form of a suite of 14 songs, the music and lyrics are the reflections of Steven Wilson arising from an accident he observed whilst waiting in a traffic jam. The title comes from the road sign “Police – Incident” which he thought was a really cold way to describe what was happening.

This disc does bring us to the realisation that prog rock is well and truly back. The idea in the 70s that punk swept away prog excesses with the return of the 2 minute hit (‘New Rose’ by The Damned had a cover of ‘Help’ by The Beatles that went so fast it was under 2 minutes!) – was never very convincing when you look at the speed with which bands like Public Image were experimenting with form and length.

Porcupine Tree have always pulled themselves in two directions probably led by the fact that Steven Wilson seems to like melody and noise in equal parts. At its most pop, this album is beautiful – at its noisiest it does something wonderful too.

The second disc is a short EP-length work of 4 tracks. The whole thing needn’t have been spread over two discs but I think it works better that way. I’ve listened half a dozen times so far, and am getting hooked into this album…

Tags: ,

Sacheverell Sitwell

Sep 14

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Things I found | No Comments

Sacheverell Sitwell

Sacheverell Sitwell

I mentioned in an earlier post that I stumbled across the work of Harriet Martineau again recently. Another book which I remember being fascinated by when I was a student was ‘For want of the golden city’ by Sacheverell Sitwell. I had developed an interest in the Bloomsbury set along with friends of mine at the time. I had been particularly taken with the work of Virginia Woolf. This was the early 80s and the New Romantics were dominant in popular music. A group of us in Liverpool were looking for influences. The Sitwells caught our attention. I read the poetry of Edith Sitwell and some of the autobiographical work of Osbert Sitwell (I picked up a volume in a bookshop in Liverpool called Atticus).

Then one day I was wandering around Central Libraries in Liverpool, which has the most beautiful reading rooms and an amphitheatre shaped international library. I came across ‘For want of the golden city’ by Sacheverell Sitwell and began reading the first few pages as I sat on the floor. I was absorbed by the writer’s ability to capture so much with a wide sweep of thinking. He demonstrated a new renaissance attitude, an interest in learning across disciplines for the sake of learning, rather than for some utilitarian purpose. I was enthralled.

I was brought back to this book a few weeks ago when I met an old school friend in the doorway of Central Libraries. A week later I searched on Amazon and discovered that the book is out of print. A further search of my local library catalogue tracked down a copy which I am now reading. 

Thirty years brings a change of perspective, but I still think the book is fascinating. Sitwell’s writings stand the test of time well. John Betjeman said the following about him:

“What a relief you are after the fearful pedantry & dull art history which kills enjoyment & just gets scholarships for people and breeds more dullards. You are a life-enhancer.”

He wrote 135 books, only one novel, but a host of books on art, architecture, music (including biographies of Mozart in 1923, and Liszt in 1934) and many travel books. He was made a Companion of Honour and also Honorary Doctor of Sheffield University in 1951. With so many books written, I guess it is not a surprise that this particular book is out of print, but I would recommend a browse through any of his books. 

 

Tags:

Scrapes against the soul – nearly there

Sep 11

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Writing, Θ Poetry | No Comments

trying to find something which doesnt exist

trying to find something which doesn't exist

The latest collection of poetry is nearly completed. I am in the middle of the final poem which is an extended piece called ’seventy nine to eighty two’. 

Here’s a verse from it:

Watching bands at Eric’s – seeing Simple Minds
Keyboard player with his head between the beams
Music bouncing off walls, everyone saying look at me
- Looking and seeing ideas for the next night out

I have found an old painting of mine which I am going to use for the cover of the book. You can see it in this post. It’s a watercolour in the form of a mandala. I’m not really much of a painter, but I liked this image, particularly when I scanned it into the laptop.

I have posted several of the poems from this collection over recent months. The middle section of the book comprised a series of poems each beginning with a line from one poem by Robert Bly – this was an interesting process which took my writing away to topics which I wouldn’t have otherwise discovered.

Once I have completed the book, I will post a pdf  of it for free download. Watch this space, as they say!

Tags: , ,

Harriet Martineau in the 1980s

Sep 9

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Things I found | No Comments

MartineauJPGI am in the middle of writing an extended poem (100+ lines) at the moment, which will be the final piece in my latest book of poems. It is about my experiences of Liverpool in the late 70s and early 80s. As I write it, many memories are being evoked. The motivation behind the writing was an exhibition of photographs by Francesco Mellina which appeared at Liverpool’s National Conservation Centre recently. These pictures captured the scene which I was part of at that time. I have also reconnected with some of my old school friends over recent months.

Many of these memories are opening up experiences from that time. I am reminded of writers, musicians and artists that I was following then. Amongst these is the work of Harriet Martineau. She lived from 1802 to 1876 and was a writer, philosopher and the first female journalist in the UK. She was also considered to be an early feminist and probably the first female sociologist. She was a prolific writer whose work I dipped into. I was particularly taken with the breadth of her work and her interests. I was fascinated by the idea that it is the intersections between topics, genres and disciplines that brings really rich content. I have continued to develop this passion over the years. It is very much an obsession for me today. As I write this I am dipping into ‘Biographical Sketches’ by Martineau and remembering the immense learning which I acquired from reading her nearly 30 years ago.

Tags:

At St Deiniols Library

Sep 4

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Things I found, Writing | No Comments

outside_stdeiniols3

I’m at St Deiniols Library writing this. For years I have dreamed of a secluded place to hide away and write. A few years ago I spent a weekend at the Manjushri Buddhist Centre in Cumbria – but that is a significant distance from where I live. St Deiniols is the only Residential Library I know of.  It is located in the small village of Hawarden in Wales. It has a book collection of over 250,000 items which is incredible.

It’s one of those things that you want to tell people about because it is amazing, but not tell too many people because you don’t want its seclusion to be spoilt. The library is located in an old sandstone house which belonged to Gladstone. He began the library and it still runs along the principles that were originally set by him.

I’m going to use this place to push forward the various manuscripts I am currently working on. It will be a great place to escape for realistic chunks of time and create.

The books I am currently working on are:

  • Archetypes at Work  – which sets out practical applications of archetype theory in organisations (much more accessible than I am making it sound)
  • Coming through Change – a guidebook for personal survival in times of change
  • Scrapes against the Soul – the latest poetry collection

You can see excerpts from each of these manuscripts by clicking on links on the right. More extracts will appear over the coming weeks and months.

Tags:

Pattern Disruptors

Sep 2

Posted by Stuart in Blog posts, Writing, Θ Coming through Change | No Comments

The brain works best when it has a pattern to recognise. When we are young this is how we multiply the capacity to learn. Rather than seeing everything as fresh and having to decode it, we search through our neurone connections for something that resembles what we are seeing. So, when we see a dog, we will make connections to any previous experiences of dogs and that will give us a wealth of information about dogs – what they look like, how they act, whether they are dangerous etc. This can be helpful for learning, but it is also important to ensure that we live safely.

So far so good! Problems arise with this though, when we come to realise that sometimes patterns do not serve us. These patterns, for example, can help to build phobias. Thus, an unpleasant experience whilst at a height at a young age can contribute to a fear of heights in the future.

I am laying this out in a simplistic way to illustrate the point. We build patterns over time and these can be incredibly useful or they can develop inhibiting loops which are not so helpful.

In our relationships with others we form all sorts of assumptions based on information. Thus, when someone tells us what they do for a job we will make judgements about their character based on that information. Sometimes this helps, often it doesn’t. We will also sometimes form judgements based on the way someone looks. If they resemble someone we already know we may think at a sub-conscious level that they will be similar. This is clearly bad logic!

When the pattern formed is unhelpful, or leads to bad logic we need to introduce pattern disruptors to dislodge the loop so that we think afresh and are able to start with new sets of assumptions. There are a number of ways we can do this. Examples would be:

  • Renaissance as a strategy (see earlier blog post)
  • Proactive steps and actions to disrupt the pattern
  • Encouraging reflection – time spent considering the pattern will help to unpick bad logic
  • Distraction techniques – designed to stop the brain from following the loop
  • Physical connection such as tapping or pressing fingers together to distract thinking and disengage an existing loop

Many of these techniques can also be adapted more broadly to tackle wider issues of organisational change where groups of people are working within patterns. Peter Senge’s work in this field (The Fifth Discipline), which looked at loop patterns and disruptors, is particularly useful.

Tags: ,