#92
Yesterday's Nice Thing: Having dinner with Thomas
What seems like a lifetime ago, at the very start of my Steiner teaching journey, Thomas began the same Steiner teaching course as I did. Seven years later his journey could not be more different than mine, but also weirdly similar, he is now oddly enough, working for two of the students' parents in my class. And he now lives in a totally amazing house. It is perfect for a small family or a couple. But it is mostly just perfect. It overlooks the lough, it is close to Holywood and it is just what he deserves after all these years of schlepping all over the two islands. When we got there I said, this is AMAZING and he said, it isn't a yurt. Which he actually stayed in for a few months one year.
Anyhow, we met up cos we were doing a forest management plan for the school. He cooked dinner in the clayoven and it was amazing. Chicken which had been done in a pot of root veg. He is really an amazing person Thomas.
We also did Forest School together years and years ago and attended a few anthroposophical conferences. There were many moments of recollection and laughter and many moments of sharing and catching up. If I were to be honest, I never thought there would be a connection with Thomas, but somehow, over the years, it has built up and... one day, without you noticing it, there it is! Isn't life amazing. So, yes catching up and cementing a friendship. That has gotta be one of the best things ever.
I am going running after this - but the temperatures have plummeted once again - and the wind is really cold. It is very annoying, I have to say... Gary is SUCH a beautiful cat. It would seem that my entire life I would be surrounded by guys. My class is mostly boys, my children are all boys, even my pet is a boy... looking at my female friends, again, the few I have they do not tend to be typical women either. I was relating to Thomas the story about Tinder which I had heard from other women who had been on it... the women who are my good friends do not tend to be Tinder types. I suppose cos I'm older and just am used to doing things the harder way...
Tinder was brought up cos I said to him, look you should forget about a picture of yourself on Tinder and just post a view from your house. The thing about Tinder is it is free. If people are serious about dating, invest some money in the dating app. Guys who are on Tinder, by and large and just looking for a free night out. Women who are on Tinder, exactly what are they thinking?
Then they are disappointed the guys are psychos...
I could and would never go on Tinder. Never. I just couldn't.
It is also ironic of course that years and years ago, people made fun of Singaporeans because of the SDU - Social Development unit, which was set up for graduates to meet each other. It wasn't so much the matchmaking nature of the service, but more the wanting to meet another graduate. Matching making is interesting, isn't it?
Well, I am not sure what I'll be doing today really...
What I REALLY want to do is garden. Yesterday I did lots of writing. Lots of thinking about things. As always. And I attended the Christian Community service. It was really interesting because it was so utterly depressing, as we enter Holy Week. I twas dreadful actually. The entire service was so awful that I wondered why the heck I bothered my arse. Then, as soon as I felt this, another feeling broke over me, a feeling of completely relief, which was it is ok - it is normal to feel this shite. If you are a human being, it is alright to feel awful. And everyone feels like this once in a while. And once I allowed myself to descend, the only description I have is, that you know when a tuning fork is struck and you know it is a true note? Always, ALWAYS when I go for a Christian Community service, it feels like I have realigned myself, my soul again. And it isn't the service per say. It is because of Ben. The way in which he says it, there is a complete consciousness. In many sense, he is the piano tuner and those of us at the service are pianos being tuned. Or instruments being tuned.
Just reflecting on friendships with people, they tend to be people who think about things. They have passions. For them social status and wealth and position, all of that, it just isn't important. Their task is to be a true expression of themselves, so they tend to be tuned to another frequency, another channel. They seek authenticity, without being arsey and pretentious. Because you can do that too. They tend to be roll your sleeves up and get the job done people. They tend to be people who put their money where their mouths are. And I now know how to recognise them. Of course they are imperfect and have anxieties and are as flawed as everyone else, but we are tuned into a different struggle. When I am in the company of people who are interested in the things which are defined by materialistic success, the frequency is just different, and it is not to say I don't enjoy their company, but it is like receiving a signal which is ever so slightly off. I don't have very many friends who are like this, in fact, they don't tend to be friends - they tend to be family. And then I am close to them because of another reason.
But I am trying to think... the other thing as well about flocking together, is that the world is very hard for us, because we are tuned into this different frequency, as so as a result, we encourage each other and provide a camaraderie which is generally not found elsewhere. Whereas most people have their identities shaped and nurtured by the media around them, what we seek, what we have is not really found anywhere else. Not on social media, not in any media really. I think this is because of the nature of the beast. Media. Media is a form of communication, a very specific form of communication, and the form of communication which is best for us, is the person to person communication. Whenever I am with friends with whom we resonate well with, it is really as if not only are you playing instruments in a well rehearsed orchestra, but also, you are being watered and fed at the same time.
So it is always, always nice to find someone with whom those frequencies resonate with. I think of Lianne in Singapore. Someone whom I can be completely myself with. Have any conversation - no matter how quirky or painful. Ask real questions of. Never ever feel as if I am being stupid or superior too. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends, to know such amazing people. It is like finding a rare jewel or a rare plant in a forest.
Right time for my run. It is the third day of the holidays. I am going to spend it really well.
What seems like a lifetime ago, at the very start of my Steiner teaching journey, Thomas began the same Steiner teaching course as I did. Seven years later his journey could not be more different than mine, but also weirdly similar, he is now oddly enough, working for two of the students' parents in my class. And he now lives in a totally amazing house. It is perfect for a small family or a couple. But it is mostly just perfect. It overlooks the lough, it is close to Holywood and it is just what he deserves after all these years of schlepping all over the two islands. When we got there I said, this is AMAZING and he said, it isn't a yurt. Which he actually stayed in for a few months one year.
Anyhow, we met up cos we were doing a forest management plan for the school. He cooked dinner in the clayoven and it was amazing. Chicken which had been done in a pot of root veg. He is really an amazing person Thomas.
We also did Forest School together years and years ago and attended a few anthroposophical conferences. There were many moments of recollection and laughter and many moments of sharing and catching up. If I were to be honest, I never thought there would be a connection with Thomas, but somehow, over the years, it has built up and... one day, without you noticing it, there it is! Isn't life amazing. So, yes catching up and cementing a friendship. That has gotta be one of the best things ever.
I am going running after this - but the temperatures have plummeted once again - and the wind is really cold. It is very annoying, I have to say... Gary is SUCH a beautiful cat. It would seem that my entire life I would be surrounded by guys. My class is mostly boys, my children are all boys, even my pet is a boy... looking at my female friends, again, the few I have they do not tend to be typical women either. I was relating to Thomas the story about Tinder which I had heard from other women who had been on it... the women who are my good friends do not tend to be Tinder types. I suppose cos I'm older and just am used to doing things the harder way...
Tinder was brought up cos I said to him, look you should forget about a picture of yourself on Tinder and just post a view from your house. The thing about Tinder is it is free. If people are serious about dating, invest some money in the dating app. Guys who are on Tinder, by and large and just looking for a free night out. Women who are on Tinder, exactly what are they thinking?
Then they are disappointed the guys are psychos...
I could and would never go on Tinder. Never. I just couldn't.
It is also ironic of course that years and years ago, people made fun of Singaporeans because of the SDU - Social Development unit, which was set up for graduates to meet each other. It wasn't so much the matchmaking nature of the service, but more the wanting to meet another graduate. Matching making is interesting, isn't it?
Well, I am not sure what I'll be doing today really...
What I REALLY want to do is garden. Yesterday I did lots of writing. Lots of thinking about things. As always. And I attended the Christian Community service. It was really interesting because it was so utterly depressing, as we enter Holy Week. I twas dreadful actually. The entire service was so awful that I wondered why the heck I bothered my arse. Then, as soon as I felt this, another feeling broke over me, a feeling of completely relief, which was it is ok - it is normal to feel this shite. If you are a human being, it is alright to feel awful. And everyone feels like this once in a while. And once I allowed myself to descend, the only description I have is, that you know when a tuning fork is struck and you know it is a true note? Always, ALWAYS when I go for a Christian Community service, it feels like I have realigned myself, my soul again. And it isn't the service per say. It is because of Ben. The way in which he says it, there is a complete consciousness. In many sense, he is the piano tuner and those of us at the service are pianos being tuned. Or instruments being tuned.
Just reflecting on friendships with people, they tend to be people who think about things. They have passions. For them social status and wealth and position, all of that, it just isn't important. Their task is to be a true expression of themselves, so they tend to be tuned to another frequency, another channel. They seek authenticity, without being arsey and pretentious. Because you can do that too. They tend to be roll your sleeves up and get the job done people. They tend to be people who put their money where their mouths are. And I now know how to recognise them. Of course they are imperfect and have anxieties and are as flawed as everyone else, but we are tuned into a different struggle. When I am in the company of people who are interested in the things which are defined by materialistic success, the frequency is just different, and it is not to say I don't enjoy their company, but it is like receiving a signal which is ever so slightly off. I don't have very many friends who are like this, in fact, they don't tend to be friends - they tend to be family. And then I am close to them because of another reason.
But I am trying to think... the other thing as well about flocking together, is that the world is very hard for us, because we are tuned into this different frequency, as so as a result, we encourage each other and provide a camaraderie which is generally not found elsewhere. Whereas most people have their identities shaped and nurtured by the media around them, what we seek, what we have is not really found anywhere else. Not on social media, not in any media really. I think this is because of the nature of the beast. Media. Media is a form of communication, a very specific form of communication, and the form of communication which is best for us, is the person to person communication. Whenever I am with friends with whom we resonate well with, it is really as if not only are you playing instruments in a well rehearsed orchestra, but also, you are being watered and fed at the same time.
So it is always, always nice to find someone with whom those frequencies resonate with. I think of Lianne in Singapore. Someone whom I can be completely myself with. Have any conversation - no matter how quirky or painful. Ask real questions of. Never ever feel as if I am being stupid or superior too. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends, to know such amazing people. It is like finding a rare jewel or a rare plant in a forest.
Right time for my run. It is the third day of the holidays. I am going to spend it really well.
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