I've been staying in London and I was going jogging in Old Street at 6am, it was relatively peaceful on the streets and I would jog for a while and then go to that cemetery where William Blake is buried and meditate for a while and then I would come out of that beautiful peaceful place into the chaos. It would now be about 8 oclock and there were people everywhere running. I dont mean jogging, I mean in suits, smart dresses and just running to get to work somewhere in the city. I couldnt help but think, surely we are more than just these commuters that are running around to earn money to collect things. I though that if I stopped any of these people and said when was you last best moment maybe it often wouldnt be to do with work but sharing something with a friend or family or whatever.
Yesterday a funny thing happened I was with a friend in an outside caf and he was complaining about his relationship and saying that he was unhappy, but that he knew very few people that were. I asked him what he wanted from a relationship and in fact we wrote down 5 things
Respect
Trust
communication
caring
and good sex
Then I asked the next person that came a long, it happened to be the waitor, do you look for the following things in a relationship and read him the list. He said yes. Then I asked the next women that came past and she said yes. I think if I kept asking I would of got the same response from most people. So how come sometimes we seem to find it so hard to find it?
Commitment - I dont know why but for some its such a frightening word. I get inspired when I see acts of commitment. I read that Frank Zappa was so commited to making music that he would be there in the studio all the time. That he had to have two shifts of engineer to assist because one would work 8 hours during the day and another would take over. He rarely came out of the studio and when he did it was reluctantly. Apparently his wife made him come to have Thanks Giving dinner. He would sit sulking and eat and then say can I go now and go straight back to the studio.
I was watching the film The Corporation which in itself was a huge act of commitment taking years to make. The movie moved me but something, a small clip in that movie really moved me.
There was a scene of Greenpeace trying to stop them killing the whale and they are chasing the huge boat and the whale is being dragged into the ship by its tail and the small Greenpeace boat is chasing behind and then.I couldnt believe it.. one of the Greenpeace guys jumps from the small boat onto the whale and is holding on to the whales fin as if to say no fucking way are you taking this whale and he even seemed to look back at his colleagues as if to say come on help I cant believe a guy would leap into freezing water to hold on to an animal that is being dragged into a boat. What compassion and what commitment.
Yesterday a funny thing happened I was with a friend in an outside caf and he was complaining about his relationship and saying that he was unhappy, but that he knew very few people that were. I asked him what he wanted from a relationship and in fact we wrote down 5 things
Respect
Trust
communication
caring
and good sex
Then I asked the next person that came a long, it happened to be the waitor, do you look for the following things in a relationship and read him the list. He said yes. Then I asked the next women that came past and she said yes. I think if I kept asking I would of got the same response from most people. So how come sometimes we seem to find it so hard to find it?
Commitment - I dont know why but for some its such a frightening word. I get inspired when I see acts of commitment. I read that Frank Zappa was so commited to making music that he would be there in the studio all the time. That he had to have two shifts of engineer to assist because one would work 8 hours during the day and another would take over. He rarely came out of the studio and when he did it was reluctantly. Apparently his wife made him come to have Thanks Giving dinner. He would sit sulking and eat and then say can I go now and go straight back to the studio.
I was watching the film The Corporation which in itself was a huge act of commitment taking years to make. The movie moved me but something, a small clip in that movie really moved me.
There was a scene of Greenpeace trying to stop them killing the whale and they are chasing the huge boat and the whale is being dragged into the ship by its tail and the small Greenpeace boat is chasing behind and then.I couldnt believe it.. one of the Greenpeace guys jumps from the small boat onto the whale and is holding on to the whales fin as if to say no fucking way are you taking this whale and he even seemed to look back at his colleagues as if to say come on help I cant believe a guy would leap into freezing water to hold on to an animal that is being dragged into a boat. What compassion and what commitment.