So, a little while back I mentioned that I was quite busy at the moment, almost too busy to write regularly.
Why?
Well, a lot of it comes from BNY-BNM. I'm trying to sort a lot of things out. And one of those things is the house: the lighting in the spare room has been completed and is rather masterful (I did that. On my own. With no help. At all.) and now the room is ready to be plastered, painted, carpetted and finished off.
And part of the urgency of sorting the spare room came from a tickle from another prong of BNY-BNM: my search for a new job.
As part of my new routine I ensure that I do my house or garden jobs until around 10pm, then bath, then have an hour before bed working on projects or - on a Monday - searching and applying for jobs.
And one of them twitched. It didn't full on bite, it was playing with the worm, sniffing around to see how tasty it actually might be.
But a long way away.
In Newcastle.
Newcastle and I have a relationship going back over ten years. One of my friends that I met up there told me at the weekend that we were coming up to celebrating ten years of knowing each other, and I met him in my fourth year of university up there. I spent five years in total up there and still travel up there regularly to see the collection of friends that remained.
So the job opportunity seemed ideal: I could go to a city I knew where I already had a fanbase (well, friendship circle) and run with it. I just needed to get the house sorted to sell or rent and I was away. Marvellous (and now hence even further increased pressure on the property DIY).
But then a curious phenomenon occurred.
That of 'The Mention'. Suddenly, out of nowhere Newcastle started cropping up everywhere I looked. In conversation it drifted Northerly, television seemed to focus on it, even inanimate objects like advertising hoardings screamed it into my face.
So, was this some kind of portent?
Was this an indicator that the job was mine?
Was nature somehow nudging me, reminding me, suggesting to me?
Or was it something else, somethingS else?
Heightened awareness
We'll start with this.
The actual frequency of mention is no greater than previously, but because Newcastle is preying on my consciense, occupying my mind, any mention of it draws greater awareness. It is like looking at a swathe of colours and it appearing a murky grey, or just that, a swathe of colours. But if you are told to look for the reds you see them. There aren't any more of them before, but mentally you have been tuned to observe them, rather than just see them along with the others.
Self-introduction
Again, this is all to do with the subject dwelling in the conscious section of the mind, rather than being tucked away in the extra-conscious memory. The subconscious is where things dwell and have an effect on your actions without you being aware. The extra-conscious is an area to store things that have happened, but have no bearing on day-to-day life. It's like a sleeping dog behind a sofa: it's there but you only know about it when he wakes up because his name has cropped up in conversation and woken him up and he comes round the front expecting a pat or a treat.
And in the same was as the conscious brain is now atuned to the idea of 'Newcastle' and it is at the front of my brain, preying on my quiet moments, so it forces its way into conversation. As I flail around, desperately seeking an example for something in conversation, my mind grabs whatever is closest: Newcastle. Where I have been sat quietly thinking away and I am interrupted, my mental process naturally tries to restore me back to what I actually wanted to think about rather than am being forced to think about; and so veers the conversation towards Newcastle.
And so, purely by conscious and subconscious wont, I crowbar it into conversations and considerations with increasing frequency.
Natural fluctuation
For some reason, topics do naturally fluctuate. Some of this is understandable: in summer it is rare for conversations to turn to snow, whereas in winter it is hardly a portent in the increase in frequency of it cropping up in discussion. Some fluctations are more difficult to reason than simply seasonal.
Take politics, media and awareness. The political landscape is in a constant flux and the topic of the day is determined by those in Whitehall rather than myself. And the media report all of this high up in the agenda because, August aside, politics is always happening: it is a reliable, page or time-filling staple. But, depending on the topic, the newsteams have their "babies".
So, for example, if the topic of the day is science they will schlep off to one of the Science Cities. If it is retail conditions they will pop down a high street or off to the Bull Ring at Birmingham. And if the hot topic is the collapse of Northern Rock the teams are dispatched for a week in Newcastle. It is cyclical and - outside of London - long-term the frequencies work out pretty proportionate. But in the short-term they may be perceived as an unnatural weighting or emphasis.
Coincidence
Of course, there is the entirely unsuspicious natural coincidence. It IS cropping up with increasing frequency, but there is no insidious reason; people haven't found out your crafty plan or dirty secret; it's just random: the spice of life.
So, we'll take Newcastle. One of my clients is based in Newcastle. That client didn't contact me with any increased occurance, but I was probably more aware. And then there is football: it just so happened, by coincidence and natural fluctuation, that we were to play Newcastle that weekend. Natural fluctuation because they are in our league: we will have to play them at some point this season, but it is coincidence it is the same week as the job potential comes up.
Of course, if there were some overaching being controlling everything then it is possible they pulled the strings last season and the season before, affected people's behaviour over a long period of time to ensure we landed in the same league, to draw up a fixture list that coincided with the pre-orchestrated economic development that means firms start seeking to recruite after the Christmas shut-down.
But if something is manipulating my destiny with such minutia I would have to wonder: why bother? I can probably cock this up without any greater force becoming involved.
Why?
Well, a lot of it comes from BNY-BNM. I'm trying to sort a lot of things out. And one of those things is the house: the lighting in the spare room has been completed and is rather masterful (I did that. On my own. With no help. At all.) and now the room is ready to be plastered, painted, carpetted and finished off.
And part of the urgency of sorting the spare room came from a tickle from another prong of BNY-BNM: my search for a new job.
As part of my new routine I ensure that I do my house or garden jobs until around 10pm, then bath, then have an hour before bed working on projects or - on a Monday - searching and applying for jobs.
And one of them twitched. It didn't full on bite, it was playing with the worm, sniffing around to see how tasty it actually might be.
But a long way away.
In Newcastle.
Newcastle and I have a relationship going back over ten years. One of my friends that I met up there told me at the weekend that we were coming up to celebrating ten years of knowing each other, and I met him in my fourth year of university up there. I spent five years in total up there and still travel up there regularly to see the collection of friends that remained.
So the job opportunity seemed ideal: I could go to a city I knew where I already had a fanbase (well, friendship circle) and run with it. I just needed to get the house sorted to sell or rent and I was away. Marvellous (and now hence even further increased pressure on the property DIY).
But then a curious phenomenon occurred.
That of 'The Mention'. Suddenly, out of nowhere Newcastle started cropping up everywhere I looked. In conversation it drifted Northerly, television seemed to focus on it, even inanimate objects like advertising hoardings screamed it into my face.
So, was this some kind of portent?
Was this an indicator that the job was mine?
Was nature somehow nudging me, reminding me, suggesting to me?
Or was it something else, somethingS else?
Heightened awareness
We'll start with this.
The actual frequency of mention is no greater than previously, but because Newcastle is preying on my consciense, occupying my mind, any mention of it draws greater awareness. It is like looking at a swathe of colours and it appearing a murky grey, or just that, a swathe of colours. But if you are told to look for the reds you see them. There aren't any more of them before, but mentally you have been tuned to observe them, rather than just see them along with the others.
Self-introduction
Again, this is all to do with the subject dwelling in the conscious section of the mind, rather than being tucked away in the extra-conscious memory. The subconscious is where things dwell and have an effect on your actions without you being aware. The extra-conscious is an area to store things that have happened, but have no bearing on day-to-day life. It's like a sleeping dog behind a sofa: it's there but you only know about it when he wakes up because his name has cropped up in conversation and woken him up and he comes round the front expecting a pat or a treat.
And in the same was as the conscious brain is now atuned to the idea of 'Newcastle' and it is at the front of my brain, preying on my quiet moments, so it forces its way into conversation. As I flail around, desperately seeking an example for something in conversation, my mind grabs whatever is closest: Newcastle. Where I have been sat quietly thinking away and I am interrupted, my mental process naturally tries to restore me back to what I actually wanted to think about rather than am being forced to think about; and so veers the conversation towards Newcastle.
And so, purely by conscious and subconscious wont, I crowbar it into conversations and considerations with increasing frequency.
Natural fluctuation
For some reason, topics do naturally fluctuate. Some of this is understandable: in summer it is rare for conversations to turn to snow, whereas in winter it is hardly a portent in the increase in frequency of it cropping up in discussion. Some fluctations are more difficult to reason than simply seasonal.
Take politics, media and awareness. The political landscape is in a constant flux and the topic of the day is determined by those in Whitehall rather than myself. And the media report all of this high up in the agenda because, August aside, politics is always happening: it is a reliable, page or time-filling staple. But, depending on the topic, the newsteams have their "babies".
So, for example, if the topic of the day is science they will schlep off to one of the Science Cities. If it is retail conditions they will pop down a high street or off to the Bull Ring at Birmingham. And if the hot topic is the collapse of Northern Rock the teams are dispatched for a week in Newcastle. It is cyclical and - outside of London - long-term the frequencies work out pretty proportionate. But in the short-term they may be perceived as an unnatural weighting or emphasis.
Coincidence
Of course, there is the entirely unsuspicious natural coincidence. It IS cropping up with increasing frequency, but there is no insidious reason; people haven't found out your crafty plan or dirty secret; it's just random: the spice of life.
So, we'll take Newcastle. One of my clients is based in Newcastle. That client didn't contact me with any increased occurance, but I was probably more aware. And then there is football: it just so happened, by coincidence and natural fluctuation, that we were to play Newcastle that weekend. Natural fluctuation because they are in our league: we will have to play them at some point this season, but it is coincidence it is the same week as the job potential comes up.
Of course, if there were some overaching being controlling everything then it is possible they pulled the strings last season and the season before, affected people's behaviour over a long period of time to ensure we landed in the same league, to draw up a fixture list that coincided with the pre-orchestrated economic development that means firms start seeking to recruite after the Christmas shut-down.
But if something is manipulating my destiny with such minutia I would have to wonder: why bother? I can probably cock this up without any greater force becoming involved.
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