Today’s little blog juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/03/3…
Archive
March 2025
Today’s blog post juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/03/2…
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of …
I so love this album petejosef.bandcamp.com/album/def…
Spot on christianheilmann.com/2025/03/1…
Why do I bother?
Another Monday; another day in the legal trenches; but so little to do. Is this the way it ends?
Here now isilyarecords.bandcamp.com/album/fro…
Can anybody recommend a book on bioethics?
So desperately sad ‘It’s hell on earth for me’: how did Joe Black overdose in a homeless hostel with zero tolerance for drugs? www.theguardian.com/society/2…
I’m certainly looking my age
Today’s bit of bloggage juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/03/0…
I am thinking I might write a few speculative pieces in the corporate horror genre; I’ve certainly got enough material…
“The company that employed me strived only to serve up the cheapest fare that the customer would tolerate, churn it out as fast as possible, and charge as much as they could get away with. If it were possible to do so, the company would sell what all businesses of its kind dream about selling, …
I see so many stories about people beating cancer. Who is there for those that didn’t?
Sorry to trouble you @manton but how do I embed the books I’ve read? I have seen a few people do it and it looks pretty neat.
Loneliness isn’t just reserved for the aged or old.
Today’s bloggage juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/03/0…
Today’s bloggage juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/03/0…
To listen isn’t just to learn; it’s to be utterly and irrevocably transformed by the experience.
“My daily practice is to wake and immediately bring my attention to this thought: “I am one day closer to my death. So how will I live this day? How will I greet those I meet? How will I bring soul to each moment? I do not want to waste this day.” ― Francis Weller
Letting Grief Flow cac.org/daily-med…
“The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.” ― Philip K. Dick
A restless night which wasn’t helped by the dog wanting to share the bed. And then there’s work. Off up road as they used to say. That’ll be my lot today. Still, it could be worse.
My morning walk
Today’s little bit of bloggage juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/03/0…
Today’s blog post juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/03/0…
I love John Butler youtu.be/f-wYIXtZr…
Out and about. Tis a cold morning.
Here now intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/uhl…
February 2025
Here now
Gotta love a 50 page ++ commercial contract. Give me a piece of litigation any day of the week or even a half decent mediation.
A new book on Maori art www.theguardian.com/world/202…
What is your work now? by Mandy Brown everythingchanges.us/blog/what…
Here now wayfaringstrangers.bandcamp.com/album/way…
Today’s little blog share juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/2…
“The only way to get change is not through the courts or — heaven forbid — the politicians, but through a change of human consciousness and through a change of heart. Only through the arts — music, poetry, dance, painting, writing — “can we really reach each other,” ― Leslie Marmon Silko, …
What is your greatest sadness?
I am listening to this book www.goodreads.com/book/show… It’s making me realise how little I’ve witnessed the act of dying.
Back home from day #2 in an office (I have two legal jobs so it’s not the same as earlier this week). I don’t mind going in but it’s so different to what I remember of working for a law firm. I’m not complaining but merely making an observation.
Today’s little blog juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/2…
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 →
Logging on for work at 06:18. It’s just like the good old days!
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 →
“You don’t write a novel out of sheer pity any more than you blow a safe out of a vague longing to be rich. A certain ruthlessness and a sense of alienation from society is as essential to creative writing as it is to armed robbery.” ― Nelson Algren, Nonconformity: Writing on Writing
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 →
Today’s little blog juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/2…
“Grief is not a feeling it is a capacity. It is not something that disables you, we are not on the receiving end of grief we are on the practising end of grief.” ― Stephen Jenkinson, Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul
Why do we have such an aversion to talking about death and dying?
A bit of Bukowski www.steelsnowflake.org/post/buko…
How many unread books do you have on Kindle?
I am into week #3 of my part-time, in-house legal job. It’s less stressful than working at my last employer – a behemoth of a company (c. £16 billion t/o). The people are nice and the atmosphere is relaxed but I do need to keep trying to push the envelope of what is BAU vs. what we need …
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will …
I shall get out for a walk shortly. Tis bootiful outside, which makes for a stark contrast to the biblical rain we’ve had these past couple of days.
It always feels odd when the dogs aren’t home. Daughter #3 has them today.
Here now / With the End in Mind by Kathryn Mannix on Audible. www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0752Y…
Today’s blog juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/2…
“The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.” ― Philip K. Dick
Today’s little ol' blog post juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/2…
“I can tell you that solitude Is not all exaltation, inner space Where the soul breathes and work can be done. Solitude exposes the nerve, Raises up ghosts. The past, never at rest, flows through it.” ― May Sarton
“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” ― Winston S. Churchill
I just saw Steve Bannon make a Nazi salute on the Guardian feed. What is the world coming to?
It’s been nice to be accepted as a bereavement listener at our local hospice. The course has been vital to my healing and well-being.
I’m exhausted. Also, I’m sitting down too much and not getting up to give myself a break and my eyes. Old habits die hard.
Today’s little blog juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/2…
I have nothing left to prove to myself by working as a lawyer, which is code for saying I shouldn’t still be here, flogging myself to death. I will sit with everything that is coming up and know that it will pass but there has to be more to life than this.
I feel we’re closer to the end of civilization than ever before.
I think work is so overrated.
My old geezer look 😂
My current book
The start of job number 2 today. It’s like going back in time to when I first started in law.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 →
Here we go again. Why do I always fall under the spell of doing more than I need to apropos of work? Perhaps because I care. Or is it because I know no different?
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 →
Today’s post: / the death guy juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/1…
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 →
Such a joy to read this poem again: The Summer Day by Mary Oliver www.saltproject.org/progressi…
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 →
Awake at 4.45 am. Thoughts of work wake me. Never a good sign.
This is such a wonderful book www.kathrynmannix.com/books/lis…
This is really good: Care of the Dead: Ancestors, Traditions & the Life of Cultures by Phil Ford, Jacob G. Foster & J. F. Martel www.amacad.org/daedalus/…
I wonder what is our actual experience of seeing death and dying?
Still one of my favourite Bukowski poems youtu.be/HDiLfQUBn…
Week #2 of the new In-house job. So far so good; no emergencies to deal with but it’s early days.
I do have a Patreon page www.patreon.com/posts/hea…
Professional listener juliansummerhayes.wordpress.com/2025/02/1…
The last day of my bereavement course before a day’s induction. The time has flown by.
[Grief] is everything. It is the fabric of selfhood, and beautifully chaotic. It shares mathematical characteristics with many natural forms. Max Porter, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
Hi @patrickrhone. How are you?
Mark Rylance is a phenomenal actor.
My afternoon stroll.
Out and about
I so love this poem by Michael Longley; it is a lovely reading too. poetryarchive.org/poem/fift…
A slow start to the day. No rush; a good strong cup of tea; a book and sitting zazen. #dailyroutine
H. G. Wells wrote some amazing books.
I wonder if there are any poetry lists on micro.blog? I can’t seem to find any. At the moment, I’m reading Michael Longley’s last book of poetry which is lovely. Does anyone else know his work?
I am dialling things down across all my social media sites and taking a break from writing daily posts on Substack and Wordpress. I will be posting (fingers crossed) a daily reflection here – not that I’m expecting anyone to be particularly interested in my prognostications.
We’re constantly being sent signs but I’m not sure we understand them sufficient to act accordingly. That’s how it feels right now with my writing and speaking about death. I know the gods are watching but what am I supposed to do, really? I’ll sit with it for now, take a …
I’ve now been asked on to two podcasts to talk about death and dying which I think is timely and long overdue.
“[Grief] is everything. It is the fabric of selfhood, and beautifully chaotic. It shares mathematical characteristics with many natural forms.” ― Max Porter, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
I am currently reading and listening to A Beginner’s Guide to Dying by Simon Boas. It is poignant, funny and full of love and I can’t recommend it highly enough www.theguardian.com/books/202…
I have finally managed to post to my blog which is good news.
This will be test #2 which I’m typing via Chrome.
Test post.