America is the great democratic experiment. Although, this is getting on for some 250 years now. This nation is in the grip of the politics of grievance. Partisan politics in America is more about hating the other side than particularly loving the side you are voting for. Americans have been encouraged to focus their attention upon their grievances via decades of negative campaigning and attack ads. Demonizing ‘the other’ is the favoured political pastime in the 21C. Identity politics and social values are the main game these days. Economic issues are now seen through this ideological filter.

Murdoch, Fox & Stirring Grievance In America

Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News are merchants of toxic polarization. This network is spewing out lies and fake news 24/7. Every presentation is top heavy in anti-woke content and a right wing bias. Regular viewers are sucked into a spin cycle of libertarian anti-government GOP grievance stoking. Old white men upset at their changing worlds, where heaven forbid minorities are now getting a say. OMG the sky is going to fall in. In this partisan realm complaints about there being too many coloured faces on TV and LGBTQIA folk making too much noise are legion. Uppity women talking about sexual harassment and such like make their viewer’s blood boil – which is the whole idea for Fox. Getting their audience riled up keeps eyeballs on them and advertising rates going up for their revenue.

Popularizing Poisonous Issues For Political Gain

The politics of grievance is all about popularizing these causes for the benefit of candidates and the party. The party promoting these grievances doesn’t need positive policies. They just bang on about how the other side is to blame for the problem. 

The kitchen is a place of warmth and potential danger. It is packed with sharp implements, in most cases, and home to fire. Our kitchens are all about fuel, with fuel for the body and fuel for the oven and cooktop coming to the fore. Modern kitchens can disguise their function through artifice and interior design but at their heart they are fiery places. What voice is most at home in the kitchen? An imperative one barking instructions is oft required in the heat of the moment and under the duress of cooking up a storm. 

“Happiness is a sharp knife.”

Here in the kitchen you will meet the no bullshit You. The part of you that needs to get the job done, the family fed, and keep the pantry full of food. The subpersonality which monitors and maintains the state of your refrigerator. The You that keeps a tidy kitchen. The Captain in charge of the sink and ensuring the washing up gets done. You may delegate these roles to underlings but keeping everything ship shape is the role of the Captain on deck. Kitchens like ships demand order and constant vigilance, lest they fall into chaotic disrepair. 

Interestingly, Hestia was a virginal goddess and refused the suits of both Apollo and Poseidon. Perhaps this is where we get the separation of the sexual roles of the wife and mother in the home and the focus on providing nurture and hospitality instead. Hestia was seen as the giver of all domestic happiness and good fortune in the home and she was believed to dwell in the inner parts of every home. She was also the first god mentioned at every sacrifice, as she represented the hearth where sacrifices took place – this is the direct link to our kitchens today and the idea of the sacred chef. There are very few temples of Hestia extant and this is thought to be because every home was her temple in the Hellenistic world. I think we can draw some intuition from this in our view of our homes being places of divine inspiration.

The bedroom is home to our inner prince or princess of the underworld. Here we find the nascent and sensitive self who passes back and forth between our states of consciousness. The most famous bedroom princess is Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, who was snaffled by Haides, god of the underworld,  whilst playing in a flowering meadow and taken to his dark kingdom where she ate pomegranate seeds and thus was condemned to remain there for the most part of each year. To eat of the fruit of love with the dark lord and to consume his seed, would be my reading of the situation. Persephone becomes the goddess of spring, as it is then that she is able to return to the world above, and so she brings new life back from the inchoate darkness of the unknown. A very apt metaphor for our own unconscious realms and the role it plays in our own lives and especially in our creative dimensions.
Our bedroom is fundamentally a place, which contains a bed, and where we go to sleep. It is a portal between worlds, of the conscious and the unconscious. It is our temple of sleep, where we go, after our day’s labour and nightly feast, to lie prostrate upon a flat couch and quietly beseech the god of the underworld to come and take us to his realm. It is interesting to examine the bedroom in these terms, to see its function in light of the split between these states of being. I think that we would all agree that we rescind our autonomy when we go to sleep, and our consciousness is removed into the ocean like world of dreams. We no longer have the illusion of being totally in control of our lives and destinies. 
House Therapy - Discover More of you at home?
Robert Sudha Hamilton

Let us move now to another room in your house or apartment, the bathroom. If the living room was home to our king or dominant self, then the bathroom is the province of our queen. For it is our queen who is concerned with those things most keenly represented by the bathroom in our home – our body, beauty, health and mortality. These four riders in the storm are all inextricably linked with each other, and for our queen self, are forces of nature which must be met, managed and alas, ultimately surrendered to. 
 

The bathroom, in the 21C, is a more private room than the living room. Therefore, we meet a more private version of you within the confines of the bathroom. Bathrooms are places of intimate perspectives upon our self. Close your eyes now and imagine yourself standing inside your bathroom before the mirror. Feel your gaze upon your naked body in the knowledge that you are completely alone within this room inside your home. You are safely ensconced in the privacy of your own bathroom. Sense the voice or perspective engendered by this experience of physical examination of your own body. 
 

We meet our body in the bathroom, pretty regularly I would hope and imagine. Our five senses engage with our physical self as we observe it, evaluate it, clean and repair it; and finally accept it. In the bathroom, we as queens of our senses, are firmly focused on a layer of our identity – through our bathroom mirror and through touch we self-examine our physical selves. Our inner queen knows that the world judges us on our appearance and our beauty. For it is beauty which has remained unchallenged, as the most desirable feminine quality, throughout the ages. Even today, with all the knowledge and nuisance inherent in sophisticated modern twenty first century life, what other characteristic shines out like beauty? A beautiful face, a beautiful body, beautiful eyes, a beautiful smile, beautiful hair, even a beautiful nose can inspire actions and life changing events to occur. 
 

Great Art most often concerns beautiful representations of the human form and there are of course countless examples of this throughout the recorded millennia of our existence. Michelangelo’s David, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, the sculptures of Praxiteles and the too numerous classical statues of antiquity whose artists are largely unknown but are sublimely beautiful to behold. From the East the stunning examples of carved wall reliefs on Buddhist temples and religious statues from Hindu, Sikh and a myriad of other examples – all reflecting a deep appreciation of the beauty and symmetry of the human form. For many people and even for some great philosophers, beauty is god or a clear sign of god’s presence. We are often inspired in the presence of beauty and many of us have devoted our lives to various manifestations of it. 

How You Feel Affects Your Golf Swing

You hold the club and how you swing it determines the trajectory and pathway of your golf ball. Therefore, how you feel affects your golf swing and what kind of shape you are in massively affects your golf shots. We all bemoan how inconsistent most of us are at the great game of golf. Many of the golfers I regularly play with share their frustrations at not being able to make the shots they know they can when out on the course. Golf is a thick soup of experiences, which bubbles on the stove for over four hours. There are high points and low moments during our rounds of golf. At times, the game seems almost effortless and at others it is a dire struggle. The evidence indicates that the common denominator is the guy or gal holding the golf club. Our state of being impacts upon how we play a shot and the outcome of that shot. 

Drilling Down Into the Golf Swing

This is why we ritually drill sequences within our golf swing in a bid to develop a repetitive action capable of getting the job done out there. Obviously, if you are a raw beginner and don’t know what you are doing the road will be bumpy on your journey toward proficiency. We have all been there and the only solution to this early phase is diligent application and getting proper instruction from a PGA professional. However, you will, also, see better players practicing moves prior to making shots, as they attempt to groove a successful action. The golf swing can appear fairly straight forward but a lot can go wrong on the club head’s journey from go to whoa. Timing the exact moment of impact, when the grooves strike the back of the dimpled golf ball, is paramount to the thing going where you want it to. Developing a reliable technique is the intention of most of us who love to play this game.

The Church of Golf

Here at the Church of Golf we take all comers. We take sinners of many colours. You might be a chilli dipper or a shanker. You may even be a hooker or a slicer. We don’t care what your particular crime against golf is - cause there is a place for you here. We offer salvation from the lonely path they call the bogey trail. We provide succour for the sinner who is way over par. The Church of Golf was built for the man and woman who is woe betide on that scorecard. The golfer who hath lost his or her way and requires the charity of the brethren of swingers. Ye shall not walk the course alone. Ye shall not suffer the indignities of failure without the helping hand of brother or sister. Golfers of the world unite under the banner of the crossed clubs and dimpled ball. That flapping flag up yonder beckons to us all. The sweet perfume of promised birdies in the paradise of tomorrow. The soaring drive that clears the trees to land so softly upon the Lord’s fairway. The rolling putt that drops unexpectedly from long range. These are the treasures inherent within the crucible if we can all just last the distance and turn the corner on our next round. Golf was never said to be easy. Golf was from the very beginning more challenging than any other activity of its kind. The game of golf – and is it really just a game – demands a great deal from its participants and adherents. Eighteen holes in which to do your best somehow. What is the significance of the number 18? Why did God choose to have 18 holes, with 18 greens and 18 tees? Two sets of 9 add up to 18.  Each 9 holes is a journey out in one direction. An expedition or adventure we all embark upon with hope in our hearts. Hope for the lightness of grace to fall upon our shoulders. That the round ahead may be touched by divinity or good fortune at the very least. 

5 Tips For Inner Peace & Tranquility From The Stoic Golfer

We all want to be free of torturous desires and anxieties that unsettle our lives. One of the core beliefs of Stoicism is that individuals have little control over external events, but they have complete control over their own thoughts and reactions to those events. The Stoics emphasized the importance of accepting what is beyond our control and focusing instead on developing our own character and inner peace.

Tip No 1
Turn your focus around 180 degrees from out there to within. The answers to your quest for happiness will not be found out there, rather it will revealed by seeking within. Marcus Aurelius tells us In his book, "Meditations," - live in harmony with the universe by following the principles of wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation, and by using reason to guide your thoughts and actions. Marcus reflects on the Stoic principles and provides guidance on how to live a virtuous and fulfilling life. He writes about the importance of accepting what is beyond our control, cultivating inner peace, and performing our duties in life with integrity and wisdom.

Tip 2

You are not your feelings! The Stoics believed that emotions such as fear, anger, and desire could cloud our judgement and lead us away from the path of wisdom and virtuous living. They taught that individuals could achieve tranquility and inner peace by understanding the nature of the universe, accepting the inevitable, and practicing self-control and restraint in their thoughts and actions. Your emotional reactions to things that happen in your life and on the golf course are not who you are. You are not your feelings, predominantly, despite the intensity of the moment! The Stoic golfer breathes beyond the reactivity and finds a better way.

Tip 3

You are not alone; we are all connected to the life around us. Stoicism holds a universal ethical code, based on the principles of natural law and the common good. Everything you do impacts upon your family, friends, community, and eco system. It is not all about you, as many people think. Children have this me-centric attitude as part of their early years, but grow-up and out of it in the natural evolution of things.

Tip 4

Live life joyously in the here and now! Stoic Joy: A Stoic rejoices in the present moment and finds joy in living a virtuous life, regardless of external circumstances. When you strip away all the stuff from your life. Ditch the desires for endless material things. Discard the wants for this and that. Stop craving for substances to fill up your life. You will find that simply being alive can be a beautiful experience – not all the time, of course. Constant happiness is a furphy, another illusory desire. Allow yourself to be free enough of fear and desire to be joyous in the here and now.

Tip 5

Play it as it lies! Acceptance: Stoicism advocates accepting everything that happens, including both good and bad, as a natural part of life. The fundamental credo in golf is – ‘play it as it lies.’ Therefore, stop wasting time and energy complaining about stuff. Accept what you cannot change and make the best of it. Stoics rise above their circumstances via their character and commitment to virtuousness. The power is within and not from without. Only victims give away their power to outside agencies. Tranquility and inner peace are available once you have regained control of your emotional responses to events in your life. Resilience comes to those who grasp this mantle in their lives.

Wisdom from The Stoic Golfer: Finding Inner Peace & Focus on the Fairway by Robert Sudha Hamilton

Golf: Strategies to Achieve Single Figure Scores

Many of us who regularly play the game of golf aspire to reach a low handicap by shooting good scores. In this article I want to share some of my golf strategies to achieve single figure scores. To begin with it is immensely useful to examine your own game and identify a few of the things obviously holding you back from reaching the desired target. It might be your technique or lack of it in certain parts of your game. It may be your attitude to the game and in what shape you play, both mental and physical. 

Who You Play With Impacts Upon Your Score

Golf is a sport for all, and the handicap system allows players of all levels to compete. This makes the game of golf unique and wonderfully equitable. Therefore, there exists a mix of approaches to competitive play in clubland golf. Your regular four-ball may contain players of varying abilities and levels of commitment. This can be a challenge to how you perform amid environments of casualness. It may be that extra concentration is required if you play with golfers who cannot be bothered to mark their ball on the green and who chat incessantly. You may have to ask yourself how important is becoming the best golfer you can? You might have to sacrifice the comfort factor of your usual four ball if you want to move beyond mediocrity. Familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes. I have observed many four ball groupings where the psychological dynamics via the on-course banter becomes a hindrance to optimum performance. You have to ask yourself, why am I really playing golf? Is it for the socialisation, the camaraderie between mates or to be the best golfer I can be? Of course, there is nothing wrong with playing the game for the enjoyment of friends, as it can be a rich source of human pleasure. 

Golf Strategy & the Mental Game

Your mental state during a round of golf can have a considerable impact upon how your perform. We have identified the influence that group dynamics can have on your game of golf both negatively and positively. Bringing things one step closer to you, how do you present yourself pre-game? Are you a golfer who takes pride in preparation or someone who turns up in whatever state you happen to be in? Golf is a four hour plus examination of our physical and mental prowess. Playing competitive golf hung over, poorly prepared, stressed out, and/or in bad shape for whatever reason is a waste of everyone’s time. I recommend ensuring that you have got plenty of rest, had breakfast, and getting to the golf course at least an hour prior to teeing off. You don’t want to be rushing to make your tee time because your swing will reflect that quality to the detriment of your overall score. Make sure that you have the time to warm up by hitting a small bucket of balls on the practice ground or in the nets. Do some chipping and practice putting, as your short game is the last port of call in the scoring pyramid.