On Becoming a Hermit, Sort of ... Day 30

Day 30
(Wednesday, 15th April 2020)

Today's first event was our once weekly on line session of Tai Chi with David Lipka, of Mindful Tai Chi.

What else? Apart from some path and step rebuilding as well as assisting B with a bit of digging at the bottom end of our garden in some glorious warm and sunny weather, it was a routine and uneventful day, besides our next door neighbour getting stuck in his garage followed by a plea for help from his wife to the 'Street' WhatsApp group, which we missed (because of the aforementioned digging at the bottom of the garden!).

For a change, today, I am going to point you toward the website of Poet, Writer and Editor, G Jamie Dedes, and in particular her publication this week of an article entitled "In the Wake of COVID-19: Free Speech and Freedom of Artistic Expression Threatened". She regularly exposes injustice and doesn't pull her punches when she does so. As an additional background to this singularly extraordinary woman, some time ago she asked me to write a testimonial for her 'The Poet by Day" blog, which primarily promotes the work of others as well as her tour de force, The Bardo Group's 'BeZine'. My statement was: 

"There are blogs and there are blogs. There is writing; there is poetry; there is art; there is human endeavour and there is ‘The Poet by Day’. Rarely, if ever, have I come across a web log like this, of such towering integrity. Seldom have I encountered such a willingness to subjugate self for the benefit not only of the art of the written word, but also for the benefit of poets and writers everywhere. Here be a deep well of inspiration."

“This is enhanced, in a major way, by her own invention, a blog called ‘Into The Bardo’ (now a collaborative blog, ‘The BeZine’), which represents the noblest of goals, an aspiration to connect all life on Earth spiritually; to unite the World in one grand scheme, which, if it achieves nothing, fills us with hope.” 

She is one of the very significant reasons I have continued to be motivated to write over the past seven or eight years that I've known her and been a contributor to her publications.

~~~~~

Today's choice of music from Clemency Burton-Hill's "Year of Wonder", is "Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op.21 2: Larghetto" by Frederic Chopin. This was Chopin's first piano concerto, although numbered 2 because it wasn't published till after his Concerto No.1, for some reason. At nineteen years old the young Frederic had just fallen in love with a beautiful singer called Constantia Gladkowska, but, smitten as he was, "in the six months since I first saw her I have not exchanged a syllable with her of whom I dream every night". 

Ms Burton-Hill follows this with "Mate, we've all been there". It is evident, however, that Chopin poured all his feelings of love for this woman into this piece. "It is hard to imagine a more persuasive love note ... At least this heavenly music endures." Clemency concludes.


However you may be affected by anything I've written about, do leave me a comment below or, if you prefer not to, talk to a loved one, a friend or someone you trust.