Road trips

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Taking a ride along roads to places new can be likened to roads of discovery in other areas of our life too. Having time to think as the world passes us - moving away from home, work – leaving our worries behind, allows new thoughts to open up and bring about a freer state of being. This was the idea behind the mind-altering trip that the Merry Pranksters took in their bus way back at the start of the hippy revolution in 1964. Those heady psychedelic days may now be gone, but the open road is still there for another kind of mind-altering trip.

Looking for any evidence to support the happiness I feel when I'm on the road, I can only find religious references. It's interesting that so much is put on discovery of religion but little comes up on self discovery through travel. The closest I have found is through reading The Art of Travel by Alain Botton - although, he ventures further afield to find himself through travel and art. Yet, simply whizzing along in a car is largely overlooked in this profound book for having any life epiphanies take place and it really can be that simple.

When those poor lost souls 'discover' religion, they are moving from their current 'place' or state of mind - where they are weighed down with all their life baggage - to a newer place in their minds where they feel the merits of discovery in the form of religion. It's all merely a state of mind - can't they see that? So, I'd concede that this same baggage-dropping state can equally be found by going on a journey to new places in a car.

The very act of driving means we are constantly in the moment - checking the road situation, reading signs, maps, gauges. It's a form of meditation in itself - especially so on those long trips that demand extended periods of concentration. For a passenger, it's a very confronting state as the responsibility for safety is on the driver. This allows all other thoughts to flow through the mind and this is where we can practice the art of observing these thoughts as they pass in front of us - choosing which ones to listen to and take action on.

This quality time can prove to be the best for making tough life decisions and is a place for coming to the realisation that whatever baggage we've 'left' behind, can even be left behind on our return from being on the road to discovery.

Art as Therapy

ART APPRECIATION

Visiting the Hayward Art Gallery the other day has reminded me again just how great London is. Southbank is teeming with creativity and we have so many other great galleries and theatres all around London, that we really must get out more to appreciate the great work artists are doing.

Appreciating art gives us a moment to stop and think about what it is to be human. There is so much emotion embodied within works of art. I visited The Tate Britain some time ago and as I had a bit more time, I paid for the headphones so I could learn a bit more about the installations. It was a really informative afternoon and rather than just walk from piece to piece, I was able to really listen and understand what each of the artists had been trying to say, expressing their emotions on canvas or with their artworks.

I've just seen the entry for the BP Portrait Awards have now have closed - meaning the artworks have all been submitted and are currently being judged. I like trying to guess the winners myself and it's an exhibition we try and see with family which makes I nice day out too. So I will definitely be taking in the exhibition later on in the year (Exhibition from 18 June to 20 September). The picture at the top of the page 'Man with a Plaid Blanket' in last year's winner and was painted by Thomas Ganter.

Tate Modern

One of my favourite buildings in London - and a great space for viewing art - is Tate Modern. This is a place that I go to when I need a bit of an art inspiration fix. Just sitting in the turbine hall or up in the cafe looking out over Millennium Bridge at St. Paul's Cathedral are enough to give me a boost and there's always something interesting going on. They're currently building an extension which will have even more great things to see. 

Conflict

I'd been meaning to go to The Tate and see the Conflict, Time, Photography exhibition for a while - the photographs of  destruction caused during war are very powerful images and something that particularly interests me. So, after my boxing training yesterday, I took a walk in the sun through St Katherine Docks and over Tower Bridge down along the river. On route, I had a short stop at the riverside with a coffee to just sit quietly in the sun by a fountain away from all the tourists. After, I walked by The Tower and watched a military parade and gun salute opposite The Tower of London - a display for The Mexican Prime Minister who is visiting London right now. There was a great exhibition happening on the other side of the river too next to the Major's building, also centred around Mexico. I got to try a VR demo on the Oculus Rift headset in there, which simulated flying around Mexico City on a microlight! They also had a VW Beatle covered in over 1.5m beads designed to symbolise the psychedelic effects experienced from ingesting a particular Mexican hallucinogen. These beads were stuck there individually by a Mexican family and took 9000 hours to complete. I took lunch after at Wagamamas which is a great place to be mid afternoon when the crowds have gone. All in all, it was a great afternoon wandering around looking at great inspirational artwork and some of my favourite London architecture, St Paul's and The Tate.

Richard Tuttle's 'I Don't Know. The Weave of Textile Language.' in the turbine hall at Tate Modern.

The view of St Paul's Catherdral from the Cafe in The Tate Modern.

My first stop of the morning taking in a quiet moment by the river...

Art as Therapy
I read another of Alain's books recently which talks about the healing properties of viewing and understanding art/artists and the therapeutic properties of experiencing art in our lives. It really helps to open your mind beyond the day-to-day. I will try and take in even more art exhibitions, most certainly on a more regular basis to really make the most of this great city.

The School of Life

LEARNING HOW TO LIVE

It always amazes me when I observe how supposedly intelligent and 'wise' people are doing things that are not beneficial to themselves or anyone else. They're stubbornly stuck in their ways because they truly believe they know what is right - when clearly there are better more beneficial ways to do things...if one looks hard enough. A lot of people chose the easy and lazy option and it seems to be the older, well-educated and outwardly respected folk that get stuck in their ways the most. They don't like to have their thinking challenged and they stop learning & growing as a consequence.

Watching some more of Alain De Botton's short documentaries and reading The Consolations of Philosphy again, I've learned another truth today - we have to understand that failure and hardship are to be embraced as a way to improve ourselves. We should abandon comfort for true fulfilment. Nietzche said, 'That what does not kill me - only makes me stronger'. This is why, I've pushed myself in the gym, when I could have stayed at home - this is why I get out of bed early when I could so easily stay in bed and why I chose to avoid the comfort zone.

Another one of Alain De Botton's projects, The School of Life, has some great courses and a helpful list of good reads for better understanding how to live life. I cycled past it the other day. It's located in one of my most favourite areas of London - Bloomsbury. It's well worth having a look at the website, even if it's just for some reference for what to read. Alain also has his TV documentaries, Ted talks etc. on there too, which you can watch for free. You can learn about another great project Alain's involved with, Living Architecture - where you can book a room at some fantastic properties in the UK.

Southbank Surprises

CONCRETE JUNGLE

We had such beautiful weather in London this weekend, so we walked around Southbank, sampling food from the many 'tastes of the world' food market. I love this part of London - the concrete architecture, galleries, BFI, bars and great things to do all year round. After having some beautiful snacks at the market, we took in an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery called History is Now: 7 Artists take on Britain. It was a massive display of British history and there was so much to take in, that we had to take a little cheeky snooze in one of the cinema rooms where a film was talking about the changes in community at a north London housing Estate. The exhibition covered some great topical events from the last 60+ years. Some of my favourites were of the un-PC advertising from the 70's and 80's mainly.

There was also a massive educational display focussing on the BSE and the Foot & Mouth epidemic that affected Britain (and eventually surfaced in Europe). I knew it was from mixing other animal remains, like sheep brains in cow's feed, but I hadn't realised this practice was know about for hundreds of years before - how could we have been so stupid? Anyway, I'd forgotten just how long this had run on for - no wonder the farmers were suicidal! I'm now lining up to watch Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery - which talks about similar symptoms tribesmen from Papua New Guinea had after eating human flesh.

The coolest bit for me was the Bloodhound surface-to-air missile positioned up on the roof, which is facing Russia - symbolic of the cold war. While we were at the Southbank, we also visited one of our favourite little hidden bars called Concrete - really great little venue - especially for this time of year and great for a bit of inspiration as it has a chilled vibe with rarely anyone in there to distract you from your thinking...We also spotted the Living Architecture hotel placed on top of the Purcell Room - A Room For London, a small hotel room inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness - which was also the inspiration for one of my most favourite films, Apocolypse Now. This installation was meant just for 2012 - but the ballot is open for a couple to stay 1 night up until the end of 2015.

Unpopularity

STANDING UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE

Every day, I'm looking critically at myself - physically, mentally and spiritually. I look to others for new teachings, learnings and affirmations that I'm on the right path. In the last 6 weeks, I've already made some significant changes to my habits and improved my output. I've identified areas for improvement and I know that it's going to be a daily, ongoing challenge for me to fight back the urges, stop the old habits creeping back in and stay true to my new lifestyle.

It takes courage to face up to our shortcomings, inadequacies and failings. The small tweaks can be achieved in a short time frame but, to evaluate ourselves properly, we need some quality time to address and deal with any deep rooted issues we may have. Firstly, we need to identify the traits and parts of ourselves that could benefit from some attention in order for us to improve - and as we can be blind to our ways, identification of these facets to our personalities often comes from those closest to us. It can be hurtful when criticism comes from others and we have to assess if it's constructive and a benefit to follow it. We're all affected by what other people say and think - and in the quiet pre-dawn hours (and some middle of the night hours), I've been playing conversations over in my mind and analysing what, why and how to respond and act accordingly to criticism. I've looked at different viewpoints and reasoned. I've chided myself, then countered, assessed and set what must be done. The outcome from all this thinking is, when I can see something is right based on sound judgement and logical reasoning - I must stand up for what I believe in - even if it goes against what others believe in and consequently, makes me unpopular.

Boethius wrote a book entitled The Consolation of Philosophy, which was written in a time when he'd lost his wealth, social standing/power and was condemned to prison, awaiting what he knew to be a violent death. He was in this situation because he'd stood up for what he believed was right. He came to terms with his fate and his writings from that time about 'The wheel of Fortune' were considered to be one of the most important texts to be studied from the middle ages right up to the renaissance period - references to his work can be found in lots of important works including modern day books and films too. Although Boethius had fallen out with the powerful while defending his principles. Even with his possessions and freedom taken from him, he still faced his executioners with the one and most important thing remaining in tact - his integrity.

There is another even earlier example of someone famously falling foul to the powers that be. Socrates was an early classical philosopher who stood up for what he thought was right. He also came to a grizzly end because he refused to give in and compromise what he truly believed in. This guy is another great source of inspiration to me - because he questioned assumptions, rhetorical ideas and the establishment, using philosophical reasoning & deeper logical thinking to find truths. 

I've been reading more of Alain De Botton's books lately - and this one entitled: 'The consolations of Philosophy is a great source for learning about the fates of both Boethius and Socrates. There is a six part series of short documentaries based on this book called: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness, which can be found on Channel 4 - also written and narrated by Alain - they can also be found on Youtube along with Alain's other great short docs like 'Status Anxiety' but you may need a VPN or Zenmate to watch if you are based in the UK due to copyright issues.