Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Plans for a new blog

I am planning to start a new blog which I think I will call “The Coffee Shops of London Town”.  For the background to this, you can read a blog I wrote on 14 March 2010 called “Coffee shops I have known” about my love of doing much of my writing in coffee shops, including the first drafts of these blogs.  My friends know of my delight in discovering new cafés, and some have suggested that I should write a blog about this.  Having discovered two new places this past week, I now think it is time to do this. 

I want to use this blog as work in progress when attending a Blogging for Beginners (and Improvers) Workshop I am going to next week run by Emily Benet who has turned her own blog into a book.  Since I, too, am planning to draw together into a book those parts of my blogs which are of interest to acupuncturists, I hope that this workshop will help me do this, and also make my current blogs more interesting to look at (and perhaps even to read!).

So, as they say, watch this space!

 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Insights into a Water person's relationship to the elements


I have just received the following comments all the way from India from a young Indian friend of mine written after she had read my blog of 30 September 2012:  My relationship to Metal: another new insight”.  Her guardian element is Water.  She is not an acupuncturist, but has been treated with five element acupuncture and as a result has developed a great interest in our approach.

“I read your last blog with great interest as I could almost visualise the nature of the conversations.

Conversations are one important way I try and look for elements as I am not often able to sense the colours or smell or sound (sometimes I can).  More than the exact words, I often focus on how the conversation proceeds, how the other person talks and what I feel.

I don't think a lot of what you have described rests upon your needs or temperament in the clinic (except perhaps how you might judge the net result of a conversation) because I have very similar feelings while dealing with the elements, coloured of course by my own element.

What I mean is: Initially I always had a difficult time with Metal because it was hard to sustain a conversation. I always felt they were judging me and I was not holding their interest sufficiently.  I also tend to talk more under these circumstances (sometimes I clam up but that depends on whether I am trying to reach out or whether I don't want to have anything to do with the person).  However, I suppose my kind of talk in this case would be different from a Fire person's.  I just talk about whatever I can manage to think up every moment; it is sometimes fruitful and informative (as Metal people carry a lot of information with them) but not a relaxed kind of conversation.

I also have a problem with Earth because of the tendency of Earth people to direct the conversation so strongly and too easily (and illogically) overrule things that I might mutter or mumble (and I would only say those things once before retreating and letting Earth take its course).  Earth is such a strong element in its manifestation- I feel they have a strong maternal aspect radiating from them but this is not something that draws me to them or that warms me.  It is based somehow more on their needs rather than on being sensitive to mine though they may be well intentioned.

Fire is the element I am most comfortable with.  I am not always relaxed in their presence but I don't need to worry about taking charge of conversation and I know that many Fire people will actually want to listen to what I say.  Even though they are doing a lot of talking, they are good listeners.

Wood is hard again and even when Wood is not pushy, there is always a latent tension inside me hoping that the push will not come suddenly and unexpectedly.

Water - I find it hard to recognize many Water people!  I do recognize some and in those instances, even if external appearances of the element are different from mine, I can understand their behaviour.  I find (especially lately) my voice certainly has a droning tendency and I do sometimes interrupt people in the middle of what they are saying (and I am trying not to do this because people naturally do not like this!)  I think it is sometimes because I am afraid that I will not be able to express myself on some matter (i.e. the conversation may drift to something else or people may not hear me) and sometimes the desire to share something is so strong that I impulsively chime in.  I think these are two different- (positive and negative or yin and yang or however one may describe them) aspects of water that motivate me to react in a seemingly similar way but with different reasons, during conversations.”

It is very rewarding for me to see how an understanding of the elements can help a person in their interactions with other people in their daily life.  Thank you, Sujata, for your insights. 

(And anybody interested in getting a real flavour of life in India today may like to look at her excellent blog sujatavaradarajan.blogspot.com.)