“Exploring life through fiction, together.”

[Housekeeping - This is late, and it’s all my fault. I don’t even have a good excuse, I just got the days of the week wrong. The keen among you will notice that’s the second time, so I’m going to implement a few changes to limit the chance of it happening again.]

I used to think I was northern until I moved to Scotland. My identity flipped. There, I was a soft southerner with silly habits and a strange way of speaking. Since then, we’ve moved a lot. Each time changing one microculture for another. Each time having to redefine myself.

Fiction Bite - It's coming home, it’s coming home.

“Take that down,” he screamed from the other side of the empty street. Dave paused, hands clenching the corner of the flag he’d been draping across his house. “You’ve got bloody cheek hanging that here,” continued his assailant.

Dave looked down. St George’s cross swung straight. The red sang.

“What’s your problem, mate? We’re in the finals, aren’t you proud?”

“No. You’re in Wales, you dipshit.”

Ah, that again.

Quote of the Week

“If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that  they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies. The sealed world in which he lives would be broken, and the fear, hatred, and self-righteousness on which his morale depends might evaporate. It is therefore realised on all sides that however often Persia, or Egypt, or Java, or Ceylon may change hands, the main frontiers must never be crossed by anything except bombs.” - George Orwell, 1984.

Book recommendation - Nonviolent Communication — A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B. Rosenberg

A guest on The Tim Ferriss Show (I can’t remember who) observed something like “calling it Nonviolent Communication is like calling a hug nonviolent physical contact”. I’ve always felt pretty inept at communicating, so I read books to improve.. This is the only one I’ve revisited multiple times. When I remember to use the methods(which I still am working on), all my interactions improve. I believe this is a life-changing book. It’s changing mine.

Final Words

I watch people live up to the story they tell themselves. A strong Yorkshire lass here. A high flying city boy there. Because in the end, they’re all just stories. Where we come only plays a small part. What we tell ourselves shapes the adventure. I’m still settling into our new house. I still haven’t got to grips with this microculture, and they don’t know me yet. So now I get to pick. Who shall I be this time?

With Love,

Josiah

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