David Johnson

Monday 22nd July, 2024

Dear Friends,

I don’t think that I am in the business of looking after dogs anymore, at least not puppies. Please don’t get me wrong, I love dogs. However, my step-daughter who has a young French Bulldog has gone away with her family for a week, and my wife and I are looking after the puppy. He is sweet, but a lot of work and messy. Give him a few more years when he is happy with just a walk, doesn’t eat or drink sending everything everywhere, and doesn’t bring the outside in. That was the last Frenchy that we looked after. Much easier.

That is our current situation and will be for the rest of the week. I know, first world problems. As my grandmother use to say, “A trial sent to test me." And test me the little guy does. He shows me where the work is still needing to be done. Thank you, Mochi.

During this last week I have delved further into the Apple Shortcuts that I spoke about last week, looking deeper into how I can automate the processes on my laptop and phone. There are apps that already carry out processes that I have been working on, in fact do them very well and I make use of them. However, with my earlier successes in automation, I got a taste for what I enjoyed about coding when I first taught myself. Coding for me was always about solving a puzzle, and I enjoyed that challenge. If I could automate the processes that I use regularly, enjoy the process of creating the automation and then have the final product be something that I could use, it all felt like a win win for me. On top of that I am finding that not only am I learning a new programming language (though programming purists might question whether Apple Shortcuts is a language?), but also getting a better understanding of how aspects of my computer and the web work together. The nerd in me is enjoying this.

I have been rereading Pema Chödrön’s book, When Things Fall Apart. This simple passage jumped out at me,

We could say that the word mindfulness is pointing to being one with our experience, not dissociating, being right there when our hand touches the doorknob or the telephone rings or feelings of all kinds arise. The word mindfulness describes being right where we are. (p.38)

For me it spoke to my experience with what I mentioned last week in relation to my returning to the US from Europe with a sense of culture shock. I have been trying to stay with the experience, the felt experience to me of culture shock, not reacting to it. Just feeling it, tasting it. Those sensed feelings arise in a given moment and then leave. None of this means that I deny that which I gained from my time in Europe. None of this means denying preferences. It is about recognizing the current situation, where I am and not allowing other feelings to drag me down into dialogues of “not enough” or “wanting” or “if, only if”. It gives space for the current situation and preferences to live side by side, one informing the other, but not one overcoming the other….and then seeing what emerges from that. Patience also plays a part.

There’s a real mixture in the posts this week. Nature, tech, photos, inner musings and trivia. I hope that you enjoy it all.

Thank you, as always, for reading.

David.