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  As you might have guessed from the picture, in this post I’m going to address an aspect of ancient Greek/Roman philosophy; namely, Stoicism.     Among other things, the considerations and teaching of Stoics, concerned emotions, and an elimination or reduction, of negative feelings.   Right up my street, and well worthy of further exploration!   First, please bear in mind that:   In modern usage, a “stoical” approach, is seen as one that is bereft of emotion.     It is often, considered to be a bad thing.   The reason behind this, is that many emotions are positive, and someone who doesn’t feel such things, tends to be looked upon negatively.   Ancient Stoics though, were not, however, advocating an emotionless existence, and were fully  supportive of positive feelings.   There are, of course though, negative emotions, such as anger and hate etc.   It is these kinds of things, that they were seeking to minimise.   But how can it be done?   I can provide a topical (albeit simplistic) e
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  The “star” of this post is my eldest son. As you might recall, he is an actor.   This Christmas, I had the delight of seeing him in the Royal Exchange Theatre’s Christmas presentation.   It was a theatrical adaptation of the Noel Coward film, “Brief Encounter”.   Despite its immense acclaim, I have never seen the film, nor had any burning desire, to do so.   I did, though, thoroughly enjoy the play, and might check out the movie, accordingly.   First, I really took to the story, with its bittersweet connotations.   For those who know the story, here’s a question for you...   Is it a happy or sad ending?   I accept that the course of action taken, was the “right” thing to do. Nevertheless, I tend towards “sad”.   Perhaps I am, intrinsically immoral?!   More important than the story though, was the immensely high standard of the acting  - and that includes my son!   As a Christmas production, an element of levity was introduced, through the inclusion of live music, songs, and dance.  
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“We don’t need no education”   Pink Floyd (1979) First, I should say that I don’t agree with the opening quotation, in its own right! I consider education to be invaluable ... though, as for that which I provide -  debatable !   Anyway, off we go, and be warned...   ...for a change, this is a wholly positive post!   As you might recall, I have delivered many, brain injury related, presentations to students (and others) since surviving the injury.   Inevitably, this ground to a complete halt, by reason of Covid, and such activity seems (for several reasons), to have taken a very long time, to re-start.   That was, until a couple of weeks ago...   My “gigging” activities look like they are recommencing.   In the past, the delivery of presentations, has been very important to me.   In pre - Phil v2.0 days, public speaking formed a major part of my life. The fact that this is, now rather replicated, with further presentations is, therefore, something of a recapture, of my earlier life - an
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“That's how grateful we are, that's how grateful we are That's how grateful we are, that's how grateful we are That's how grateful we are, that's how grateful we are That's how grateful we are, that's how grateful we are”   (Chumbawamba 1990)   I have previously mentioned, my involvement with  the South Manchester and Stockport branch of Headway – the brain injury association.    Our branch is charitable and non-trading. Accordingly, we can only spend for the benefit of our members, money that we can raise from charitable sources. Perhaps needless to say, we are on the  constant lookout for charitable funds.    An obvious source of these, are  donations.   Saturday 7 October, saw the culmination of a fundraising exercise, that generated donations, amounting to  more than £800!   A team of three senior corporate lawyers (old colleagues of mine), competed in my local parkrun, and obtained sponsorship for their efforts.   They gave up their normal Saturday
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