Drip

On Tuesday the kitchen ceiling fell in. I tracked the problem down to the cold water tap attached to the washing machine upstairs. I pulled the sheepish white good out from its cupboard and had a look round. The floor was damp but I couldn’t see why. Then…….plimp, a drop from the tap. I watched it, dared it even. Five or six seconds later……….plimp. I watched a few more and then turned the connector round less than a quarter-turn until it locked…………no more plimps. The machine was fitted a year ago and presumably has been dripping once every five or six seconds ever since, till there was enough water for the plasterboard downstairs to have to let go.

Two plumbing problems in a week. In all the Taoist books I‘ve read they always talk about the strength in soft things and often use water as an example.

Anyway, at the risk of repeating myself, like the relentless drip, I reckon that I need to watch out for the personal equivalent of doing a tiny bit of damage to myself that I might not even be aware of at regular intervals, which, over time will cause my ceiling to fall in. Maybe it is a recurring thought or worry that I need to just turn off.

I also reckon that on the other side of the same coin, if I do certain quite modest things regularly (and often) that I could benefit in a big way. Do tai chi, drink a glass of water, walk up a hill, be in contact with someone I like, relax on my expensive sofa, give a few quid to someone who needs it more than I do, remind myself who I am etc.

I do do tai chi some (not all) days, but as I sit here thinking about it, I suppose that if I did it as relentlessly and inevitably as that tap dripped then the results might be amazing. Taken to extreme, I could tell myself something or do something every five or six seconds and be permanently connected to my destiny; it would become inevitable!

Flow

There is a bit of a blockage removal theme to this week in my world. If pipes aren’t kept free of debris then it seems that all sorts of mayhem can ensue.

Several days ago, the drain from the sink in the kitchen became blocked. A few minutes of vigorous plunging made it worse. Subsequently, despite administering liberal quantities increasingly un-PC chemicals, peaking at something that claimed to be 92% sulphuric acid, we were no nearer free flow. Such was the intensity of my suction activity that there were resulting failures in the integrity of the pipe-work beneath the sink and the muscle fibre in my right arm.

Anyway, I was impressed by the levels of angst that the blockage caused. By the time it was eventually ejected at high speed from the sawn off pipe at first floor level at the back of the house, narrowly missing my inquisitive Dad, I had endured several days of blockages and leaks in my own plumbing. My energy had not been flowing as well as it might. It occurred to me that if energy encounters obstacles as it makes its way round my body, it’s no wonder that I can become ill. Imagine the damage that years of energy build-up, leaks and what have you can do to you. I must do Tai Chi more regularly.

Space

I go into a space in the middle of my head between my ears. I have it decked out quite nicely in there these days. It is a quiet room with a long curved leather sofa (facing away from me) in the foreground and a control consul with a big screen above it on the far wall. In the middle of the room a very large shiny stone is suspended from the ceiling, spinning slowly, significantly adding to the air of calm in there. It is quite dark. (I suppose when I don’t go in there myself that the lights may be brighter). On occasion, I have considered adding a water feature, but it doesn’t seem quite right. Sometimes there are one or two people sitting at the consul, maybe reading a magazine or tapping away at a key board. I ask them to shut everything non essential down and go off for a break. Then, where usually there is whatever I can see through my eyes, projected on to the screen, there becomes a very deep space.

After a few moments of quiet on my expensive chair, the most surprising, pleasant, reassuring, peaceful, real things will appear on the screen. Then the room can evaporate and I am left with whatever there is. There really are many things and feelings, the experience is ‘most adjacent’, as my Aunt Edith would say. When I leave, it feels more and more like I bring a bit of that feeling with me.

Chi whizz

I watched a programme on BBC3 the other evening called Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves. It is a kind of martial arts review. It seems to be a blend of quite amusing tricks and demonstrations of seriously powerful concepts. The serious part focuses on chi.

An older man, an exponent of something called Okinawa Karate, was able to prevent his attacker from even initiating a strike by using his chi to “disrupt” his would be assailant's concentration.

Call me someone who has had my mind disrupted by watching too much TV, but I could feel Okinawa Karate man’s energy from my settee.

I believe that chi can be used for all sorts of amazing things including healing yourself and others.

The man who managed to hang a 150kg weight from his testicles can't be making it up.