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I have recently read again Julian Baggini's "The Ego Trick',  a brilliant book which looks at   "the nature of  s elf in an entertaining and comprehensive,  easily understandable way". http://julianbaggini.blogspot.com/2011/03/ego-trick.html Definitely recommended for anyone interested in exploring what it means to be 'you'.  On first reading I was inspired to write 'Thought Experiment', so thought I'd bring it around again.  Thought Experiment Imagine yourself as created all at once, yet perfect and whole, but your sight has been veiled from the external. Do your feelings then come from the soul? As you fall without any resistance,   through the void;  each body part separate, untouched - then reflect in the glass of experience and affirm the existence of self. (Ref: “Floating Man” – Avicenna  cited in "The Ego Trick" Julian Baggini ) Why not now read Baggini's book ? The Ego Trick Any comments welcome. 

(200 words or less on the theme of 'glass')   Diving for Pearls What you see is what you get. That’s what I used to tell people. But lately that’s not quite true.  It seems that there are elements of myself that cannot be seen but are certainly there  and almost conscious, almost tangible, but not quite.  I recount my memories and they write down my stories though I don’t really remember  some of the events that I recall. They seem pleased when I describe particular things and it’s easier to go along with them than question it. It’s not my problem that they need to search for who I am.  The looking glass has always been my confirmation of that.                                         So I talk their language and I take their pills and now when I see more than one reflection in  the mirror, it is no longer a contradiction but a truth. They say it’s D...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) will officially rename Monkeypox, following concerns about stigma and racism surrounding the virus which has allegedly infected over 1600 people in more than two dozen countries.  The WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced that the  organisation is working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of the Monkeypox virus and its ‘clades’ (from the Greek ‘klados’ for ‘branch’) and the disease it causes. A clade consists of an organism and all of its descendants; for example, the shared ancestry of apes and all of that species descendants would comprise a ‘clade.’   T he  WHO has said it will make announcements about the new names as soon as possible. Monkeypox in the UK Although more people have been diagnosed with it recently, only a small number of people in the UK have had Monkeypox and the risk remains low. It is extremely unlikely to catch Monke...

  Autobiography -  Processing the fact and the fiction When embarking on writing your own autobiography, no doubt one of the most important questions you will ask yourself is "What shall I call it ?" There are a multitude of ways of deciding on a title, for an autobiography, from picking a catchphrase from your working life to a phrase relating to a particular talent - or lack of it - which relates to you. It was suggested to me by tutors while at University that the title should be left till last, but I have found that in practice, having something in mind keeps you focused and gives the reader an idea of whether they want to read the writing or not.  The list of 'famous' authors of biographies is endless.  A quick 'Google' gives us Prime Ministers (current and past) Ghandi, Mandela, most politicians present and past as well as writers as diverse as Agatha Christie, Anne Frank and Alan Bennett and so called 'celebrities' of the day,  some of whom I ha...

It was the last night of my four night visit to Rome. I 'd walked myself to the verge of exhaustion again and was having a final cup of tea in the bar/restaurant next to my hotel. Some new brick paving was being laid on the street and the bar was struggling to keep down the dust, even after the builders had finished for the day and the air conditioner was doing it's best to pump out some cool, moist air onto the tables and customers who were sitting outside with food and drinks. Emerging from the haze of cold air combined with concrete dust, came a woman, glasses hanging lopsidedly from their cord around her neck, speaking a  combination of English and Italian, from  which we customers surmised that she had something annoying in her eye.  She lurched across to my table and asked if she could "leave this here a moment", laying down an A4 notebook, whilst squinting and protesting about the "something" in her eye as she did so. "This stupid thing - it keep...

The other day I came across   Paragraph Planet  -  "  - a creative writing website which has been publishing one 75-word paragraph every day since November 2008. Famous authors, aspiring writers and occasional dabblers have all been involved, submitting a mixture of twist-in-the-tale flash fiction, evocative short, short fiction, openings of published novels or brief moments captured." I  particularly liked the site's creator,  Richard Hearn  ' s information on how long it would take him to read a submission - ''between 40 minutes and 6 months'' - so I found a paragraph 'what I  wrote' (to quote Ernie Wise) which is so far unpublished and posted it. I was very surprised, pleased and honoured to be told on Sunday that my paragraph was to be the one for the day, the next day.  Here it is : " The Last Time I Met My Father was on 4 th October 2002. I remember it clearly, though the date itself holds no particular significance.  He had...