Newsletter: Wisdom

An outdoorsy edition

Dolly is doing well. Though note how she prefers to drink from a plant pot base, rather than from the proper blue bowl we bought her!

Time

I have four paid jobs and four main voluntary roles. It’s a struggle to fit everything in and pay the bills, but I’d rather have less money than feel I wasn’t doing my part to make the world a better place.

And that reminds me of some scribbled notes I made in 2015 about wisdom, and how we spend our lives. I came across them again recently.

“Wisdom isn’t from experience. The conventional view that you get wiser as you get older doesn’t always ring true. That’s just knowledge, skills, how to do things. True wisdom comes from questioning assumptions, conventions, and conditioning. Sometimes young children are the wisest. They ask why something is done a certain way, exasperating adults who realise that the conventional answers don’t necessarily make full sense. And the overly optimistic idea of progression over time is not inevitable. Sometimes as we get older we become trapped in conventional views, concepts unquestioned, internalised, solidified to an armour of assumptions that prevent wisdom. We lose the open mind we once had. As we get older and become aware of the time we have left, it is natural to wonder how best we should spend it. Well, always spend it on what has value. What benefits others, not yourself. This is the start of wisdom.”

One of my ongoing projects: removing chippings and the layer of plastic underlay, and replacing them with a line of bushes and flowers. As you can see, I have only just begun to put in the borders (using old sandstone pieces).

Hey, do let me know if you enjoy receiving posts from me. Which things do you like or dislike?

If you are a free subscriber then I’m currently offering 50% off subscriptions; and if you subscribe that way, you will always get 50% off for as long as you subscribe. You can also buy a gift subscription for someone else …

Another garden project was restoring the pond. This year a frog appeared for the first time! This photo was from when I had a conversation with my amphibian friend.

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Afua Blog Tour Ends

Here are a few extracts from some of the final blog tour reviews.

“Set in the same universe as Karl’s Lost Solace books (which I’m a big fan of) Afua is responsible for a group of young orphans. When one goes missing, despite the dangers of the forest, she sets off with only her insect-like Dooga, Akalie, to help. It can easily be read as a standalone novella about living on a future world and the way humans have adapted to survive. Although I also recommend diving into the Lost Solace series.” —ramblingmads

“A highly original and sometimes moving short novella, set on a unique, jungle planet. Some of the scientific inventions in this fascinating futuristic adventure story are not only amazing but seem quite feasible; the informed, logical way they are described enabling one to accept them without question. I thoroughly enjoyed this short read, which has some very poignant moments, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an unusual science fiction adventure with memorable characters. (5 stars).” —Hywela Lyn

Find out where to buy a copy.

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UESI Kickstarter

Only thirty hours to go for this Kickstarter, which probably won’t reach its goal without a miracle! Still, I always make an effort, so I have added two more tiers to my Kickstarter "UESI: A Lost Tale Of Solace". One of them is a video consultation about your writing (if you are a writer!) which isn’t normally something I offer.

May your days be bright and shining,

Karl