What brings you peace?
Read to the end for a trial for an app that brings me a measure of peace
Peace is something that I have always found elusive, particularly in my own head. My internal monologue starts up from the moment I wake up in the morning and doesn’t stop until I go to sleep in the evening. It’s always been the same ever since I can remember. My internal monologue isn’t always a particularly positive one, so I don’t really enjoy the experience. What could I do about it though?
Well, in my childhood and teen years I would read, watch TV, listen to music, make up entire games of cricket in my head (!), anything that I could concentrate on. While I was doing that I was quietening my inner voice. Also, I found that if I could completely exhaust myself with physical activity I could get some peace, at least for a while. Even in adulthood I found it impossible to drown it out with anything other than distraction activities. Then I discovered two apps on my phone that made a huge amount of difference.
Happy Color is the online equivalent of the old paint by numbers. I find it marvellously calming and I have set myself the target of completing every picture of the day this year (2025). The pictures are extremely varied, but my favourite ones are those which have symmetrical balance. There is something so satisfying with the repetition of elements that appeals to me. Anyway, it’s an app that takes me out of myself and silences that voice.
The other app is Calm which is a meditation app that I use every night. This has changed the content of that inner monologue and made it much easier to deal with. I follow Jay Shetty’s Daily Jay, which concentrates on helping you to develop your ability to stay in the present. It is a discipline that took a while to internalise but now it’s a central part of my bedtime routine from the three deep, mindful breaths onwards. I have a very different inner voice after two years of Daily Jay, and that has brought me some measure of the peace I seek.
If anyone wants to try it for themselves the link that follows gives you 30 days free of the paid app. It’s worth a go and it’s my thank you to my blog readers who have got this far!
Hey! Here’s a limited time guest pass to try Calm, free for 30 days. Calm is great for helping me manage stress and improve my sleep. https://www.calm.com/gp/NY6P4XTK83PEN7N8F3
Peace be upon you.
What profession do you admire most and why?
Seriously, did we learn nothing from the experience of lock down? We’re human beings so of course the answer is no! When the world changed it was the shop workers, the delivery drivers and riders, the nurses, support staff and carers who kept things running. The professions we ignore 99% of the time kept us going by braving a virus killing so many people to help us maintain a semblance of a normal life.
We should admire anyone who does a job to the best of their abilities. Just because a Doctor or a Lawyer or a Teacher has a degree, it doesn’t mean that we have to admire their work more than anyone else’s. In my earlier years I was an insurance clerk, an RAF recruit, a teaboy, a civil servant and a Town Hall worker charged with moving furniture and making sure the venue was secure. I never looked at any of those jobs and thought I was too good for them. All of them taught me the value of work in all it’s forms and I met people who were worth dozens of the worst managers I have worked under. When I was unable to get a teaching job I worked in a shop for 6 months to bring money in and I became part of a tightly knit team of people from a whole range of backgrounds. People who left full time education at 16 had so much to teach me about their work and I was happy to learn.
So, when this prompt comes up, you should use it to really examine what is important and, more than that, who is important. Never look down on any person doing a job – well apart from politicians of course who deserve our derision because they are in it for themselves!
If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?
It will come as no real surprise to anyone who has read this blog that I would open a Christmas shop if I went into the retail business. The idea of being surrounded by the season all year round would be right up my street.
I would open this shop in a place with year round tourism because nearly everyone wants to take home souvenirs of their trips and what better than something to hang on the Christmas Tree? Well, how about the biggest and best selection of Christmas Music? Maybe some of the best Christmas films ever, even those you may not have come across. Christmas books galore, both fact and fiction. All of these things and more will be on offer in my shop, but with my extensive knowledge of the festive season I can offer even more.
Do you want to know about Christmas traditions? Well, come along to one of my talks. Have you ever wanted more background to the greatest Christmas book of all time? I’m an expert! Do you want to know what to prepare in your kitchen? I can help you there as well. What can I wear? Whatever the occasion I will have the right apparel. Are you struggling to find the right present? You’re in the right place. There will be talks on all these subjects and more, sometimes from me and sometimes from special guests. What music can you play at home, at work, for a party, for any age group, or even those who don’t like Christmas? I have playlists for every possible occasion.
So, come to my Christmas shop when it opens, but in the meantime read the linked posts on here for all your Christmas needs!
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
This could have been a fairly dull prompt, but thinking laterally I thought it would be fun to look at that question in terms of physical objects and from the perspective of various times in my life.
When I was at primary school I was what was then called a latch key kid which meant I didn’t always have my parents at home when I got back from school as they were both working. So, it was vital to have my front door key at all times. The problem was that I was apt to forget it on occasions, well semi-regularly actually, and that meant I was outside until one of my parents returned. No one, including me, understood why it wasn’t an automatic thing to remember but I since found out it comes from my dyspraxia which interferes with your organisation and your short term memory.
Fast forward to the mid teens and I always had to carry a pound for my bus fare to school – 50p each way. My parents had to pay for this because we lived one house away from the boundary of free bus travel! So, I got £5 a week to cover my fares. Very luckily for me, the drivers and conductors almost never checked the passes because everyone on the bus had one. I think I paid about half a dozen fares in 7 years!! The rest went to things like my two complete sticker albums Football 78 & 79, or my large singles collection. To be honest it was the only positive thing that ever came out of going to that awful school.
I got used to carrying cards in my late teens and early 20s. First was my ID card for the RAF which I never forgot because you would be on a military charge if you didn’t have it. Basic training was where so much changed for me as I reflected on in my blog post about my time in the service. Next was my Staffordshire Polytechnic student card without which I couldn’t get money off things or get into the library.
Since then, wallets became my must carry but have given way to card holders and phones in modern life. The only thing that has been a constant since those early days is my key. These days I never forget it because it’s always the last thing I check before leaving the house!
What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?
Well, if I want to make even the smallest difference I need many more readers. Let’s just imagine I have though! My blog is a place of positivity and I won’t be reviewing books, TV, Films, Plays or Concerts I don’t like. If you read a review it is bound to be good, but I will go into detail as to why it’s good. So what would I hope my blog does?
I would hope it tells people that someone who grew up in the 70s and 80s can still have their finger on the pulse of current entertainment. A number of people of my age don’t want to listen to any modern music, but many of us do. For readers who might expect Oasis (who I do like by the way) get ready for Wet Leg!
I would hope it tells people that someone who has Asperger’s can have the full range of emotions, insights and abilities as any NT. I do have the neuro diverse tendency to deep dive into any interest I have, be it music, social history or Christmas but I hope I do it in an engaging way. For readers with any form of neuro diversity I hope it might help you to express your own ideas with more confidence.
I would hope it tells people that someone who has left full time work can be looking to broaden and deepen their life. I am looking forward to seeing what life has to offer and that wasn’t always the case. To be honest the blog is a big part of that and I hope it might help others to see their own future differently.
I am serious about wanting more readers so if you enjoy the post, please read some of my articles and then spread the word. Thank you in advance.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 