The fitness continues to improve. I had three days off during March, so I still did twenty eight days of exercise. Usually I exercise between 9.30 and 10.30, and then have my breakfast. It’s now so much a part of my routine that I don’t even think of eating until I have finished, although if my stomach starts to rumble that focuses my mind! On 10 March I swapped my 1kg dumbbells for the 2kg ones! After three weeks I am still not at the stage of feeling like I could do another 5 reps, the benchmark for increasing further, but I am finding it within my compass. At a couple of points recently I have felt twinges from my shoulders and neck, so I have been doing more Yoga this month as that is comparatively lower impact. The yoga has really helped my flexibility and balance, and I am nearer to being able to sit on my heels than I have ever been! It’s definitely the fittest I have felt, mentally and physically, in years. I am starting to get to 10000 steps a couple of times a week on average, but I know I still need to increase that.
Spending has been good this month once again. I bought a programme at the Arsenal match last weekend, a couple of hot chocolates on days out, and as a family we had a meal for my birthday the Saturday before last. My family treated me to a surprise visit to The Crystal Maze Experience in London and it was amazing. A fantastic hour of fun and the first time all 6 of us had been together in one place for nearly three years! Leaving aside trips out I did very well with a third straight month of no books, CDs, records, DVDs or anything else for myself. It’s proved far less onerous than I expected and I think I can keep it going pretty much all year, all being well.
I did the first part of my project work last month. We found some diaries kept by Janet’s Dad from when he was in the Royal Navy. I have typed up the first one in its entirety, recounting a visit to Brussels made by his ship as the British representative at a Remembrance Day ceremony in 1922. It was fascinating reading and digitising it. It’s a real piece of history and I felt very privileged to be able to do it. I did start another diary from a voyage in 1927, and I intend to finish it this month.
The blogging continues to go well with my current blogging streak having reached 260 days. I didn’t have as many days where I added a second entry as I was hoping for, but all in all I was happy with keeping the daily habit going. I have a lot of ideas for future blogs, I just need to get down to writing them!
Social media use continues to be well under control. Twitter is my main platform at the moment for music challenges and book chats. It’s been easier to control than I perhaps expected, but I still need to keep an eye on it because it is the only one I mainly access through my laptop. Instagram is not fully functional on the laptop so my restrictions on the phone are definitely keeping it within bounds. Facebook is maybe two or three times a week, while the others are now non-existent.
In March I finished my introductory sessions for being a reading helper with the charity Coram Beanstalk. The next step on the path to starting is going to visit the local school chosen by the charity. I know which school it is, but it will now be early next term before the visit takes place. I finished the process for becoming a shortlister for Write the World, a non-profit that organises writing competitions for 13 to 19 year olds. Last week I did my first official shortlisting and it was really interesting. It’s early days but I really think I am going to enjoy this.
The creativity took a back seat last month, so this month I will definitely be making an effort to restart that. Still, as the only one of the seven areas with no real progress, I am happy to see that as the price I am paying for moving ahead in other areas.
My reading this month was mainly focused on non fiction books but that was more to do with what I had in my TBR pile.
True Spirit by Jessica Watson – the story of the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the world
Beyond the Wall – the history of East Germany from 1949 to 1990
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – a fantasy novel set in 19th Century England
My Previous Life in Comedy – the first part of the autobiography of the marvellous Johnny Ball
The Winter Spirits – a set of modern ghost stories
Well, that’s it for another month of pleasing progress. See you for a reflection on April at the beginning of May!
What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?
Prior to my decision to step back from full time year round teaching, my morning routine was entirely based on getting ready for the train. I would usually get up before the 6am alarm, make myself a cup of tea in my biggest cup, because I never had time for two cups, make Janet’s packed lunch, a routine we have had since we started living together, get Janet up to make mine, get washed and dressed and often jog for the train because I was pressed for time! Looking back, it was a very intense start to the day and definitely didn’t do anything for my ability to relax!
What about now? Well, I get up when I get up and only set an alarm if something important is happening. My waking up time seems to have settled down at around 6.45 am although on occasions I have slept in past 7.30! When I get up I make myself a cup of tea in a normal sized cup – my Hufflepuff cup is my morning cup now – as I know I have time for at least two more. I then settle down to read a chapter or two of whatever book I am on. That discipline has been helped immeasurably by the fact that I have a strict block on my phone until 7.30am. Reading a physical book while drinking a cup of tea is a very much better start to my day than scrolling! I will make drinks for my wife and daughter during the first hour, and will wake Janet up at around 7.15. Often I will go back to reading especially if the book is really gripping me. Sometimes I will do a couple of music challenges on Twitter but they are more usually delayed until I have a bit more inclination to go online. My online time has plummeted overall, but actually it’s very similar in the first hour of the day as I had no time to check anything other than the Southeastern app to make sure my train was on time, and when I got on the train I got my book out and read it for the entire duration of the journey.
That’s the before and after and I think I can say that the after wins out in every possible way. It’s better for my mental, physical and emotional health and I feel much more connected to my own life now than I did for the 35 years of teaching.
Which aspects do you think makes a person unique?
Our family is a large one by current standards as we have four grown up children. What makes me absolutely sure that the most important factor in what makes us unique is nature is that all four are as different as it is possible to be.
We have raised four human beings in one household so the nurture part is as similar as you can make it, although, of course, you evolve as parents as you get more experience. I remember one of my friends in Japan, Pip, who was the oldest of three complaining about the fact that her youngest sister in particular could get away with behaviour that her parents wouldn’t have allowed from her. They said it was a process of being worn down by the older children, and from our experience the parents were absolutely right š!
The second part of the nurture is of course the social circle of friends, the impact of school and the impact of social media. As children get older their main influences have always come from friends rather than parents. For me, that probably started at 14 or 15, but as I have mentioned on many occasions the school influence on my personality was wholly negative especially in terms of mood and behaviour. I would say that the parental influence is shorter lived now than it ever used to be because of technology, and, here in the West at least, children probably outgrow their parents in the latter years of primary school and the process is set in stone by early secondary school at the latest.
So, bearing this in mind, I come down firmly on the side of nature in this debate. If we say the same thing to each of our four children they will react in four different ways. This comes down to their genetic inheritance, which has different aspects and different effects. I would say that in terms of the genetics, the importance of the parents’ social and economic situation as well as diet and where they are living play a role in what genes get passed on and which are the most important. This is my own theory and genetics is not my area, but I look back at the way that our life journey had taken us around the world and given us totally different experiences and I can see the way that this may have affected the blueprint for each of the children. Our two boys were born in the UK before we left for Japan, so we had a meat and potato heavy diet and a traditional living arrangement for the UK. The two of them have always been quite traditional in likes, dislikes and outlook, although their early experiences of life in Japan obviously had quite an impact on them, and indeed all of us as a family. Our two daughters born during and not long after our time in Japan had the impact of us having much more of a traditional Asian diet with rice, vegetables and occasional white meat and a completely different lifestyle giving us a very different starting point in terms of the genetic inheritance they were given. They have been more non-traditional in their mindset, by UK standards, and I firmly believe that this is because of the influence of living abroad at the time or not long before conception.
So, my theory is based on nothing more than personal experience and observation but it seems logical to me and the ongoing differences between our four children makes me ever more convinced that I am onto something. There is probably already a lot of research in this area which I would definitely be interested in reading. Perhaps that is an area I can look into now that I have more time.
If you could have something named after you, what would it be?
When I see a prompt like this, I wonder why anyone, or at least anyone without a very inflated sense of their own importance would want anything named after them. The idea of a building or a foundation or even a charity being named by you and for you strikes me as, in all but a few cases, incredibly self serving. Whether it is a politician or a celebrity, the naming of anything carries with it the risk of becoming a lightning rod for controversy as a certain orange politician proved. Now, of course, if your only aim in life is to upset your opponents and put yourself front and centre of everything, you won’t care about controversy and you may even welcome it. Actually, if that is your only aim in life you are perfect for the job of a modern politician where helping people is the furthest thing from your mind. So, anyone naming something after themselves is by definition the type of person who I instinctively dislike.
There is, however, a very different example of this that I can support. It’s the naming of a charity after someone who has died or been hugely affected by a medical issue or similar. Sometimes it happens in the face of a personal tragedy. We have seen so many rugby players, from both codes, affected by Motor Neurone Disease. Their foundations have raised huge amounts of money and led to much higher awareness of the condition. In this way, they have taken a dreadful situation and made it a catalyst for amazing goodness. Sometimes it happens after a tragedy. I knew Derek and Jennifer Phillips for a number of years. I rented a room in their house and was treated with kindness and compassion. Jennifer was an excellent cook and baker made our wedding cake which was absolutely amazing. They had a daughter called Demelza who worked in a hospice in Birmingham. She tragically died after a brain tumour and Derek and Jennifer set up a children’s hospice in Kent called Demelza. The incredible work they have done in the past three decades has been genuinely life changing for so many families, and their mission is to, as the charity says, ‘Add life to years when years cannot be added to life’. Demelza would no doubt have been incredibly proud of her legacy and the way that her short life has made such a difference to so many other lives. To be honoured in such a way should always be the decision of the family and friends of the person, but when it happens it is a fitting tribute.
If you have been inspired by the story of Demelza please look at their website and consider supporting them in any way you can.
IāmĀ David, a former teacher of English to non-native speakers for 30 years. I have beenĀ an avid reader for most of myĀ life, andĀ haveĀ a huge rangeĀ of genres and subjects I enjoy. Recently I have beenĀ very interestedĀ in PopularĀ CultureĀ and I always look out for books that will help further my interest and self-education in that area. Having stepped back [ā¦]
David Pearce
A series of questions that I tackled that really made me think, with many thanks to book blogger Books by your Bedside. Her reviews are always excellent and I thoroughly recommend following as your new favourite read may be just around the corner.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 