Ayn Rand

Did nothing on the layout today, but feel in my bones that something significant is going to happen soon.

Meanwhile, Ceramics class tonight where I will be working on two buildings.

A reminder:

St Paul-St Louis

A row of apartments/shops

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Last night's dinner on a shoestring:

Pork beneath cream and gherkins with peas and mashed turnip

Cost per head: £3.50

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Currently listening to:

Hans Hotter singing Schubert's song cycle, Winterreise.

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Continuing to read:

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

This is a magnificent novel:

Here's an extract:

"What is kinder - to believe the best of people and burden them with a nobility beyond their endurance - or to see them as they are, and accept it because it makes them comfortable? Kindness being more important than justice, of course." p 284

A lot to think about there.

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Meditation and breathing:

My sister gave me the benefit of her experience in yoga - regarding breathing.

"When sitting with crossed legs place the back of your hands on each knee slightly cupped, breathe in and out through both nostrils several times, now alternatively turn one hand down and breathe in and out through the nostril of the upturned hand side a couple of times then change, place the hand down and do the same on other side with upturned hand, then go back to upturned hands and breath in an out through both. It's amazing how using the mind and concentrating you can make the breath go to each side." 

This follows on from my exercise yesterday when I spent 30 minutes concentrating on the passage of air through my nostrils.

Didn't have time today to try this out but will tomorrow (or much later this evening). I can see the logic of it in terms of emptying the mind of distracting thoughts.

I seem to be moving towards the kind of meditation where one empties one's mind and then waits to see what the consequences are; as opposed to meditating upon a particular idea eg "Love thy neighbour" in the hope of hypnotising oneself into doing just that.