A voice from the hollow, looking up with hope

Day 16 (Friday 16th December 2016)

16 years - the length of time it took to construct the 

Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, opened on 1st June 2016

It is the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel

(35.4 miles in length and 7,545 feet below the surface). It has 

cut an hour off the journey time from Zurich to Milan.

Have you noticed that there are some themes amongst the blogs in this year's series? There is no doubt that 2016 has been a very challenging year for a number of us. The below piece by Phil Marsland is a very honest reflection. Yes there have been heights, but the pain of the hollows is almost palpable. However, his post is not bleak... 

Phil himself is warm and engaging. He is based in York in the north of England and he is a loving partner and father as well as caring for the people around him. He is an active member of the HR social media community and founded ConnectingHRYork in 2015. You can follow him on Twitter (his handle is @FulfordPhil). He is knowledgable and inspires confidence, but at the same time he is very pragmatic and comes across as humble and human - you can get a feel for this in his blog - FulfordPhil - 'don't call me HR, call me Phil'. Phil has worked in HR for many years, most recently as the Head of HR, Talent and Resourcing for the Portakabin Group. He is now seeking his next challenge. If you, or someone you know is seeking a strategically minded, highly capable and proven to be effective HR expert, Phil may be your man.

As well as his passion for people, Phil loves music (he has rediscovered his vinyl and has established a hashtag for music lovers #fridaynightmusicroom that is shared on Twitter). He is also a keen fan of Manchester City Football Club. Perhaps the thing that drives Phil most (other than his devotion for his family) is his love of learning.

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A voice from the hollow, looking up with hope 

It's been an extraordinary year. Of heights, hearts and hollows. Just a list captures this: Trump, Brexit, Bowie, Team GB, Andy Murray, Children in Need, Syria, ConnectingHR Africa. I will write few other words. You all have your own thoughts.

Credit: @christhebarker

Some of the words I did write though included "Oh no. Starman", "America, what have you done?" and "Let's go, Mo!"

And this stuff has provided an extraordinary swirl of emotions during my 50th year on this swirling blue marble - a tiny dot, on a tiny dot, in the infinite.

I don't know if it has helped with context, or provided blinding light enhancement on my own heights and hollows.

For me, I've completed 50 new tasks or experiences in my 50th year #50x50. Too many to list here (they're on my blog site if you want to read and see them https://fulfordphil.wordpress.com) but including volunteering, professional recognition, heavy metal concerts, seafood adventures, reconnecting with my vinyl, driving down Highway One, and delighting in helping my girl smash her 'A levels' and getting her to University. Plenty and plenty and plenty of heights.

But the hollows have been awful. Having a terrible time at work being terrible about the home, losing my job, my status, and close relationships, and seeing the world take a sharp right-hand turn. I feel sick just writing this. A sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. A bad taste in my mouth.

And it's taking some time to come round from the extremes of emotions. But there is always hope. Hope for better. And I've spent more time with those that really really matter. Been there for them, rather than absent. And my heart feels better. My head calmer. My face more smiley.

Phil Marsland‏@FulfordPhil

Job search/interview prep/self employed contemplation - helped by #TheWho #fridaynightmusicroom #cipdACE16

And as a society, a country, we have to go forward with hope. We can't give in to fear and hate and vitriol. It's hard and it's going to take some time, but our kids are the hope. They are more calm, more reasonable and they will be here when we're gone. So there is hope. And maybe, because we brought them up, just maybe we haven't done such a bad job after all.

We have lift off!

Day 48 (Sunday 17th January 2016)

48 in Italian is slang for a shambles, or mess; to "succede un quarantotto" translates as
"it's going to turn into a forty-eight" but actually means "all Hell will break loose".
"Finire a carte quarantotto" means to go to the dogs or be ruined.
Painting: Gone To The Dogs by Michael Cheval

Jayne Cox, the author of today's post, is passionate about people and helping them to thrive "living life to the full and being happy"; she provides specialist coaching, supports stress management and is an Mind Fitness Trainer with a particular focus on supporting women. If you want to know more about her business check out her website Jayne Cox Consulting. She also runs a consultancy with her husband an AV specialist. Jayne is a brave lady who supports others from a space of personal knowledge and understanding, having walked her own dark path through eating disorders and self-loathing. Jayne lives near Bedford with her husband Michael, their doted on boxer (Daisy) a much loved pug (called Holly) and a collection of cats, hens and ducks. I love Jayne's joy in the life she has, the work she does and the friends she surrounds herself with. I met her via Social Media, but over the years we have got to know each other and she is a consistently caring and engaging member of my community (you can connect with her on Twitter, her handle is @JayneMCox).

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Thank you Kate for allowing me to join an amazing group of writers for your second year curating the wonderful advent blog series. I feel as if I’m sneaking in the back door as we now find ourselves in January and with the topic of ‘Coal Dust and Comet Tails’ which really did challenge my thinking.

Now I finally feel ready to release my thoughts so here goes...

Last year I watched in genuine awe and I’m not ashamed to say shed a tear, as 43 year-old Tim Peake launched into space aboard the Soyuz rocket. Chosen from 3,000 applicants and taking 7 years of preparation and rigorous training, what an achievement for what must be one of the fittest 40+ humans from earth and now living in space aboard the International Space-Station.

The Soviet Soyuz just happens to be 50 years old and had it’s first outing the year I was born, 1966. This spacecraft has launched Tim into the history books with the pride of a nation behind him all the way.

A combination of age and experience between them, 93 years to be precise, years that are respected and give them a well deserved badge of honour. The why behind this trust is quite simply that they are both tried and tested. How simply wonderful!

As an aside he seems a thoroughly nice chap and a courageous one. He’s not alone in his courage though, as we all face life’s peaks and troughs, our own tests and challenges and our own aborted missions and manual landings right here on earth.

Imagine if we looked upon age in ourselves and saw the very same awe we see in Tim. We all looked on age with this level of personal respect. If age was considered the university of life, knowledge and experience that can’t be gained any other way or fast tracked like so much of life these days.

My hope is we can look within ourselves and count our years as blessings.

So as I prepare to leave the launch pad of my 40’s I feel my own personal excitement of what to expect on my mission to 50 and far beyond. My feet may be firmly on the ground but my heart and my head often feel as if they are on the tail of a comet.

Absolutely there is coal dust coal but I always look forward to those heady flights.

Thank you major Tim and may you all fly your own comet tails this year.

Early "Happy Birthday" Jayne

L Plates

Today is my birthday; it is also the day when cities around the globe are celebrating Earth Hour at 8.30pm.  The movement has become international since its inaugural event in Sydney in 2007.  Earth Hour, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, is an annual event aimed at uniting support for the environment and spreading awareness of  energy usage.  It is seen as a means of expressing a desire for a sustainable and better future for all.  If you want to know more click on http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/  or to see the lights going out in cities around the world try  http://www.earthhour.org/  
How wonderful to know that my special day will involve candles being lit across the globe.

I must confess to waking this morning and thinking “Oh L” – not just because it was 5.30 am (and I needed to get up to drive across England, through vile snow, sleet and strong winds, to fetch my youngest son), but also because today is a milestone birthday for me.  L is the Roman numeral for fifty.  I have had a wonderful half century and I am really looking forward to the years to come.  There is some truth in Confucius' words in the The Analects (or Lun-yii 論語, a slim anthology of memorable epigrams defining the moral code by which Confucius felt every person should live): 

“At 15, I set my heart on learning.  At 30 I know where I stand (my character has been formed). At 40, I have no more doubts, at 50, I know the will of Heaven, at 60 my ears are attuned (i.e. my moral sense is well-developed), at 70, I follow my heart’s desire without crossing the line (without breaking moral principles).” 

Confucius

Confucius was appointed Minister of Public Security in his home state at the age of 50.  His words “know the will of Heaven” therefore can be interpreted to mean that he now knows the correct way to govern or manage, in accordance with Heaven’s mandate.  However, I suspect that it is broader that that and implies that he knows who he is, is comfortable with his personal values and goals and is able to behave and approach life with confidence.  I can concur with that - I know who I am and what I view as morally right or wrong.  It does not mean that I can and will stop learning, it is simply that I now have a firm foundation on which to ground my thinking and future growth.

Oak tree roots provide a strong foundation and stretch as far below as the tree stands above ground

As I drove on my quinquagenary (an over lengthy way of saying my 50th anniversary!), I contemplated the new number in my life.  In many ways it is an important one.  Here are some facts associated with fifty:

• mathematically 50 is significant and a number that brains better and faster than mine like to play with.  It is a Harshad number - so it is divisible by the sums of its digits when written in that base.

• "Harshad" comes from the Sanskrit "Harsa" (meaning Joy) and "Da" (To Give) - so Harshad translates as joy-giver, which doubtles it is for many mathematicians.  As an aside, you might like to know that there are 50 letters in the Sanskrit alphabet.

• I do like the symmetry of the fact that   1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 9 + 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 = 50 and that 50 is the sum of three consecutive squares: 50=(3x3)+(4x4)+(5x5). 

• Did you know that the moon is 50 times smaller than the earth?

• In the year 50AD the Romans founded Londinium in Britain (and I enjoy living in London today)

• I pondered the power of fifty as a compelling word in a title, we often have books and programmes about " The Top 50..." and it even wields its power in the name of the book "50 Shades of Grey" – the bonk-buster by EL James, that seemed to hit an erotic chord with so many in 2011 (I suspect that it could as easily be a description of the majority of its readers’ lingerie drawer contents)

• There is the 50 Moves rule in Chess, that enables a draw

• The Chinese have long venerated the number and there are fifty sticks, all the same length, that are used in the consultation of the I Ching.  Perhaps I should symbolically cast a reading for my future on this day as doubless to do so would be auspicious!

• The chemical element Tin has an atomic number of 50 (50 protons and 50 electrons).  Tin is one of the Seven Metals of the Alchemists – famous for trying to turn metal into gold.

An Alchemist in his Workshop,” by David Teniers II, depicts alchemy in the 17th century

• 50 has strong associations with gold (am I a golden oldie?) – a golden anniversary is the celebration of 50 years and Jason had 50 Argonauts with him when he went on a quest across the Black Sea in search of the Golden Fleece - a topic I covered in a former post http://kategl.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/going-for-gold.html

So many things to ponder in relation to the number 50 and doubtless there are so many other facts I have forgotten, never knew and have yet to learn.

So, returning to Confucius, his Analects are based on the belief that that life should be lived in an ethical manner (he saw politics as an extension of morals - an approach that seems to have been lost by some politicians and civil servants in the corridors of Whitehall, Brussels and Washington) and he founded his principles on the importance of wisdom, self-knowledge, courage and love of one's fellow man.  He argued that virtue should be every individual's supreme goal.  Earth Day is based on a desire for a better future for ourselves and those to come; I am sure Confucius would have approved of the concept and the actions - to be in the dark for a while as a means of gaining longer-lasting light and life.

A bit like attaining knowledge...

So, to L with it – I will never be too old to Learn…

and there is so much more to life than meets the eye.