I’m unsure that anything really changes. To me it seems most people change one kind of slavery for another; without much of a pay-off. It really seems at best people jump off one line to find themselves on the next line (or two) across, and that maybe the only significant change is the momentary breath of fresh air in the new setting. It’s not rejuvenation. Before long, the new ways end up looking a lot like the old ways.

It’s hard to give up old comfortable patterns.

Mostly because it’s easy to grow a ponytail, to get a harley. It’s a lot harder to make inner, deeply personal changes to your heart and mind; to see things in a truly fresh way. True change.

Manifesto
02. Every day is an opportunity for a new beginning.
06. Every day you make choices.
08. Every day choose to bring about change.

I can’t tell whether it is because I’m getting older, and therefore my bones are nearer the surface, but I’m pretending I’m not bored. Or at least not wishing I was somewhere else. The boredom raises in me and presses my flesh into the unyielding concrete tiles. I try to ignore the relentless yammering of some woman off to my side. The noise presses into my ears, my bones crush into the tiles, and boredom wells up like a belch you cannot stifle.

This is the time of school classrooms. My mind eases off in its easy lope, down well trodden paths. I’m not away soaring. I’m not Tom Sawyer on the raft. I’m not building castles in my mind. I’m in the gold – a seamless, edgeless, featureless, glowing-gold sphere. Sound turns down to a buzz.

I breathe in.

I breathe out.

I’m not being polite, I’m simply not there.

The kids know better. They get up. They walk away.

Manifesto
39. Every day trust that there is a bigger picture. You are a part of it even if you may not know what it is.
48. Every day there are things you can’t change. You can change the way you think about them and deal with them.
50. Every day has an ending.

When I was a kid I used to come to Wellington and look up at the big buildings and wonder what it was like from ‘up there’. I still find the view looking up from ‘down here’ fascinating. There are many architectural styles to be found in the CBD. The overall design is anything but a coherent vision of town planning. I love it nevertheless.

I’m inspired to find the little snippets of design – some architect or designer has decided ‘stuff it, let’s have this – or that’. And we find some elegant little piece of applied art almost as an after thought – a tiny window perhaps, or an attractive piece of detailing work. Most of the buildings concerned would have been built when architectural drawings were made by hand – and so the detail work had been deliberate. Sometimes it seems like a private joke and I can image the delight in the designer’s voice as he describes the next subtle piece of work.

Keep looking up – there’s a beauty and an elegance in the functional patterns that surround us.

Manifesto
14. Every day the ordinary can be the extraordinary.
36. Every day be still. Connect to your inner being. Listen and be guided by it.
47. Every day you are responsible.

You know the kind – when your dentist looks in your mouth, hesitates, frowns slightly, looks again, and then sucks air in over her teeth…
When your doctor suddenly gets interested, consults the internet, and then sucks air in over his teeth…
When your mechanic scratches the stubble on his chin and then sucks air in over his teeth…

When the guy who’s buying your car does the whole ‘I have to talk to my manager’ blarney…

You suck air in over your teeth…

And you notice, out of the corner of your mind, that he has a toy shark as a monitor toy…

You can feel that vein pumping in your forehead. The way it used to, in the moments while the school-yard bully was making his slow mind up about whether you were prey or not.

Manifesto
16. Every day looking at the order of things gives you power.
21. Every day seek the support of others. You are not alone.
28. Every day you will be tested.

It all started out as a run of the mill eye test. A couple of years and it’s time for me to get my eye test sorted. It’s relatively painless, and although I had some vague concerns I didn’t have any real fears. It’s an eye test, I’ve had them before, what can go wrong?

Well, nothing wrong with the test part of the eye test. The story is not quite the same for my eyes, and a further test is required. Not quite the news I wanted to hear. I feel a bit frightened. Memo to body: what are you playing at?

My eyesight is such a vital part of my self identity – I was suddenly afraid about how I’d cope if my eyesight vanished. How would I earn a living? How could I learn the necessary skills to be able to even get a job? We’re all short on time – what are you going to do with what you have left?

If your eyesight were to fail suddenly – and it does for some people in accidents – what would be the last thing you’d want to see? A favourite scene? A loved one? A work of art? A velvet painting of Elvis? Does it really make any difference?

Is there really a longing, a loving, a gratitude for something until you’ve either lost it or about to lose it?

Either way, you get on with the day … but I’m still wondering about what you do with what you’ve got left.

Manifesto
20. Every day say thank you.
26. Every day take action. Every small step counts.
45. Every day you are a different person.

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. — James Allen

My dreams are coming true.

Dreams I didn’t even know I had.

I need to spend some time dreaming bigger. Not like those ‘hey you, loser – yes you – buy my book/course/dvd and you’ll be more’ self development infommercials. It’s more along the lines of not limiting my dreams to the kinds of things that I know can happen and start to think about some more interesting, more exciting (at least to me) options.

Even the oaks make these wildly vibrant lime green leaves in Spring. Talk about inspiring. They change them for other ideas later in the season. And then in autumn, some oaks go with vibrant reds, others work with tans. Beautiful. Thank you, oak.

Time for new ideas. More writing.

Manifesto
34. Every day focus on your dreams.
37. Every day fight for what’s worth fighting for. Pick your battles.
46. Every day you can change your thoughts.

Oh, Saturday morning. Isn’t today the big day? Big plans, plenty to do? Action packed places to go, people to see? After a very solid week’s work, 48 hours of me-time. So, get up and go! Go! Go!

Can I check back with you later after a cup of coffee or two?

Just kidding. It has been a most productive day. Perhaps one of the most productive in a long time.

Manifesto
19. Every day make time for yourself.
27. Every day pain is a sign of growing.
32. Every day have a laugh.

It’s a kind of magnet in the late afternoon. I think we might have to keep it on after the Rugby World Cup.

When else, where else is the light so beautiful?

Of course, most of the people are more interested in the other attractions than the way the light runs across the buildings and scampers up the hill sides.

In the world headquarters of the verb, even the light is an activity.

Manifesto
14. Every day the ordinary can be the extraordinary.
24. Every day is a journey. Not a destination.
50. Every day has an ending.

Back in the day Te Aro Park in Dixon/Manners Street was replete with pigeons. Replete. There were hundreds. Thousands. The park was more commonly known as ‘Pigeon Park’. I loved the crazed fluster of wings and the mad enterprise as the flocks soared and squabbled over the crusts from the lunch time crowds.

Later, I made a series of photos of pigeons in Cuba Street, and I used them to help get entry into design school. Somewhere along the way I lost the photos – I wonder if they were as good in reality as they are in my mind.

Today, I still love the metallic feather sparkle that pigeons exhibit when they strut around in sunlight. Their lolly pink feet – pigeons walk on lolly pink feet. Other birds, like sparrows and starlings, hop. Pigeons have a proud, almost defiant stance. And I especially love the fact that, despite the best efforts of the authorities, there are still pigeons fluttering and jostling for crusts on our streets.

Manifesto
14. Every day the ordinary can be the extraordinary.
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.
49. Every day is a good day.

Other than the bright blue skies on those magical clear days, Wellington is not a brightly coloured city. That’s not to say that the town is colourless, rather that Wellington specialises in a fine range of muted tones. The combinations are often subtle, but often very beautiful. There’s also a rich fusion of Victorian and more modern architectural styles – it’s terrific – very inspirational.

As I walk around hunting for the elusive shot of the day, I wonder what the stories are behind the façades and windows. If this building was in use by time travellers, is this the light fitting they’d use?

Manifesto
36. Every day be still. Connect to your inner being. Listen and be guided by it.
41. Every day use your mind. It is the greatest technology ever created.
45. Every day you are a different person.