- Details
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 760
What is the Meaning of this Journey we Call Life?
Photo Credit: Natalie Nicklin/ Via New Scientist.
Today (Sat 22 March 2025) I read a very interesting, powerful and meaningful article in my daily paper on life’s biggest question: What is the Meaning of Life? All sorts of thoughts, imaginations and ideas started to get shaped and formulated in my head. I decided to read the article again, hoping this will help me to calm my excited and busy mind. To some extent it did. But I wanted more…
I must admit that the article very much resonated with me, as this fundamental question, ‘what is the meaning of life’, has been occupying my thoughts and my mind for a very long time, since the early 1990s when I began to ask fundamental questions of myself, my personal and my professional life, meaning and purpose, who am I, what am I, why am I, what am I teaching my students, who have come to me for inspiration and guidance, and much more. It was then that I began my journey of self-discovery, a journey of search for meaning and purpose, a journey still in progress. More on this later (see the links at the end)*.
Moreover, these days, the meaning of life has become even more important and significant to me. Since my wife’s stroke a couple of years ago, our lives have been turned upside down. Many new challenges, difficulties, emotions, feelings, questions and more. Despite the wonderful loving kindness and support of our sons and their families, as well as our friends, here, in Coventry, I, nonetheless, at times feel more isolated, lonely and vulnerable; missing our loving conversations, storytelling, planning our lives together and doing the things we used to do…Above all, I miss Annie’s insightful and wise counsel, helping me to navigate my life and to anchor me whilst sailing in life’s stormy waters.
As a result, I have learnt more about what things are valuable or essential. I have learnt to be more grateful, caring and more thankful. Giving thanks for the beauty and the wonder of life, still being together, in love and living in hope. I think these all contribute to a better understanding of life’s meaning and purpose.
Now let me tell you a bit about the author of the said article-James Bailey- and his intriguing project, his search for the meaning of life.
In September 2015 ‘James Bailey was unemployed, heartbroken, and questioning his purpose on the planet. In desperate search of an answer, he decided to write to luminaries from all fields and ask one simple question: What is the meaning of life?
Then he waited.
Slowly but surely their responses arrived through his letterbox…Later on, he put some of the responses together in a book, which according to many observers it has turned out to be more than ‘just a collection of letters; it's a roadmap to finding your own path.’
For now, the best I can do is to begin with James’ letter to the people that he had sent his question and request.
James’ Letter
‘In 1931, the philosopher Will Durant wrote to 100 luminaries in the arts, politics, religion and sciences, challenging them to respond not only to the fundamental question of life’s meaning but also to relate how they each found meaning, purpose and fulfilment in their own lives. I am currently replicating Durant’s study, and I’d be most appreciative if you could tell me what you think the meaning of life is, and how you find meaning, purpose and fulfilment in your own life?
‘As Durant originally instructed, “Write briefly if you must; write at length and at leisure if you possibly can.”
What is the meaning of life?
Photo credit: The Gallerist
Below I have noted three of possible answers – from a palliative care doctor, a Holocaust survivor and a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience
Illustration: Andrea Uncini/The Guardian
‘I’ve seen death many times. What matters most isn’t success, or wealth’: Kathryn Mannix, palliative care consultant
‘Every moment is precious – even the terrible moments. That’s what I’ve learned from spending 40 years caring for people with incurable illnesses, gleaning insights into what gives our lives meaning. Watching people living their dying has been an enormous privilege, especially as it’s shown me that it isn’t until we really grasp the truth of our own mortality that we awaken to the preciousness of being alive.
Every life is a journey from innocence to wisdom. Fairy stories and folk myths, philosophers and poets all tell us this. Our innocence is chipped away, often gently but sometimes brutally, by what happens to us. Gradually, innocence is transformed to experience, and we begin to understand who we are, how the world is, and what matters most to us.
The threat of having our very existence taken away by death brings a mighty focus to the idea of what matters most to us. I’ve seen it so many times, and even though it’s unique for everyone, there are some universal patterns. What matters most isn’t success, or wealth, or stuff. It’s connection and relationships and love. Reaching an understanding like this is the beginning of wisdom: a wisdom that recognises the pricelessness of this moment. Instead of yearning for the lost past, or leaning in to the unguaranteed future, we are most truly alive when we give our full attention to what is here, right now.
Whatever is happening, experiencing it fully means both being present and being aware of being present. The only moment in our lives that we can ever have any choice about is this one. Even then, we cannot choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond: we can rejoice in the good things, relax into the delightful, be intrigued by the unexpected, and we can inhabit our own emotions, from joy to fear to sorrow, as part of our experience of being fully alive.
I’ve observed that serenity is both precious and evanescent. It’s a state of flow that comes from relaxing into what is, without becoming distracted by what might follow. It’s a state of mind that rests in appreciation of what we have, rather than resisting it or disparaging it. The wisest people I have met have often been those who live the most simply, whose serenity radiates loving kindness to those around them, who have understood that all they have is this present moment.
That’s what I’ve learned so far, but it’s still a work in progress. Because it turns out that every moment of our lives is still a work in progress, right to our final breath.’
‘The first awareness, in Bergen-Belsen, was that kindness and goodwill had survived’: Susan Pollack, Holocaust survivor
‘In response to your letter, here are a few thoughts that assisted me to look forward in my youth after those bleak, horrendous times in 1944. I am a camp survivor from Auschwitz and was liberated from Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945. I was totally dehumanised, fearful, distrustful, lost to contemplate the future, all alone, unable to comprehend the values for a life in a modern civilisation.
Fourteen years old – unable to walk, to express the latent, suppressed anguish – the realisation I only speak Hungarian, no skills, no education, no finance, no support system, no knowledge.
The first awareness, in Bergen-Belsen, was the discovery that kindness and goodwill had also survived. When the British soldier lifted me up from the mud hole – seeing a twitch in my body – he gently placed me in one of the small ambulances. From that experience, miraculous goodwill is one of the guiding lights to this day. I often think of that moment and ask, “What part of that goodness with your heart do you take from that soldier?”
Kindness, generosity comes in small everyday events. Small measures of goodness have an enormous impact – to this day I take nothing for granted. I remember the effect and appreciation this first helpfulness had on my life – it gradually removed the heavy iron cover on me, and sparks of “I can do” and “I want to do” gradually came into my existence.
In Sweden, where I was taken for recuperation for my devastated physical corpse-like being, one of the facilitators had a large collection of classical records. These he played every evening, and we sat around and listened in awe to Beethoven symphonies and other pieces. In my interpretation, I could feel the energy of the music, from sorrow and despair to the drive of supreme human effort to rise above those destructive memories. I must say not completely – personally, I don’t want to let it go completely – but I am free of the chains which deprived me in the camps. Music, generally, has an enormous effect on my life.
I moved on. I became a Samaritan helper for some eight years. I took a degree at the age of 60 and then a diploma in psychology. For me, life is full of possibilities, like a search engine – find your meaning for existence that makes me feel worthy – self-esteem is the reward.
I was fortunate in having a family and could play with my grandchildren, reclaiming those years of persecution.
I remember the doctor in Sweden who took me in his arms to teach me walking, and turned to me saying: “I have a little girl like you.” What a discovery about myself – powerful words that still ring in my ears long after 70 years – I cherish kind words. These are the propelling force to continue our journey and many more small events that had a huge impact on my life.’
‘I asked my mother what she thought it was, from her now frail vantage point’: Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience
‘It feels strange to be writing to you about the meaning of life while my mother is struggling to hold on to hers. At the age of 89 she’s had a long life by the standards of human history, but any human life is the briefest glimmer in the vastness of time. The inconceivable brevity of human existence brings questions about meaning, purpose and fulfilment into sharp relief.
My mother was born in York in 1934, on Christmas Day, and grew up playing in the ruins of bombed-out buildings. She was a teacher, and later an artist and a landscape photographer. Lately, before her recent illness, she would wonder to me at the prospect of nonexistence. She knows she will die, as most of us do at some level, but she cannot imagine not existing. As the horizons of her life have contracted, she has been able to find contentment in simpler and simpler things: the rhythms of the garden, the play of light on the leaves of a tree. This flexibility suggests to me that meaning, purpose and fulfilment are not only different things, but moving targets, if they are targets at all.
I’ve spent my career trying to understand more about the mystery of consciousness. About how the mess of neural wetware inside our heads can give rise to the everyday miracle of experience. Consciousness is intimately familiar to each of us. We all know what it’s like to be conscious, and what it’s like to lose consciousness when we fall into a dreamless sleep. The nature of consciousness is also endlessly perplexing, confounding scientists and thinkers for thousands of years.
Some people worry that pursuing a scientific perspective on conscious experience might drain life of meaning by reducing us to mere biological machinery. I have found the opposite to be the case. There is no reduction. There is rather a continuity with the natural world, and with this continuity comes an expansion, a wider and deeper perspective. As we gradually pull back the curtains on the biological basis of conscious experience in all its richness, there are new opportunities to take ourselves and our conscious lives less for granted. We can see ourselves more as part of, and less apart from, the rest of nature. Our brief moments in the light of existence become more remarkable for having happened at all.
A recognition of the precarity of consciousness can help defuse some of our existential fears. We do not usually worry much about the oblivion that preceded our birth, so why should we worry about the equivalent oblivion that will follow our death? Oblivion isn’t the experience of absence, it is the absence of experience. As the novelist Julian Barnes put it, in his meditation on mortality, there is “nothing to be frightened of”.
I’ve come to think of consciousness as the precondition for meaning. An argument can be made that without consciousness, nothing would matter at all. Meaning, purpose and fulfilment can take many forms against this backdrop. The Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia best captures what I have in mind here. Eudaimonia means living well, flourishing, doing that which is worth doing. It is not about pleasure or hedonic satisfaction, nor is it about selfless sacrifice for some greater good. It involves realising one’s potential through cultivating virtues such as reason, courage and wisdom. Fundamentally, it comes down to doing a bit of good and feeling good about doing so.
For me, participating in some small way in the scientific and philosophical journey to understand ourselves and our place in nature, and communicating some of this journey to others, offers the promise of a slice of eudaimonia. In practice, frustration lurks at every turn. There is the risk of hubris when dealing with such apparently grand matters. And the dramas of everyday life get in the way.
Which brings me back to my mother. Today she has rallied, unexpectedly confounding the prognosis of the doctors. I asked her what she thought the meaning of life was, from her now frail vantage point. She told me it was about relationships with other people, and who can argue with that.’
Below you can read the entire article by James Bailey:
A Must-read book by James Bailey
The Meaning of Life: Letters from Extraordinary People and their Answer to Life's Biggest Question
Read more and buy the book HERE
*A comment on a Financial Times editorial
*My life’s Journey to Meaning and Purpose: Let Me Know What is Essential
- Details
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 876
N.B. On this day we also mourn the privatisation of our water which has always been the gift of love from our Mother Nature to nurture, nourish and sustain the entire web of life.
A photo by jplenio/via Pixabay
“Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world with grace, ease, determination, and humility.”
If, only if, we could be wise and learn how to be like water and accordingly live our lives like water…
I am trying to imagine what the world would be like, if those who have abused, misused and privatised water and made it a tool of profit making, exploitation, plunder, pollution, and destruction, had studied wisdom traditions from the eastern cultures, traditions such as Taoism which counsels us to live our lives like water. This, as Parker J. Palmer* has noted, does not mean “go with the flow” passivity. Taoism is all about nonviolent action. It invites us to flow quietly but persistently around the obstacles that stand between us and the common good, wearing them down as a river erodes boulders.
Here are some words from the Taoist master Lao Tzu who names a few of the virtues that come from living “the watercourse way.” They won’t make you rich or famous. But they serve the common good, make life worth living, and help keep hope alive!
The best are like water…
The best, like water,
Benefit all and do not compete.
They dwell in lowly spots that everyone else scorns.
Putting others before themselves,
They find themselves in the foremost place
And come very near to the Tao.
In their dwelling, they love the earth;
In their heart, they love what is deep;
In personal relationships, they love kindness;
In their words, they love truth.
In the world, they love peace.
In personal affairs, they love what is right.
In action, they love choosing the right time.
It is because they do not compete with others
That they are beyond the reproach of the world.
Glacier preservation
Glaciers are melting faster than ever
'As the planet gets hotter, our frozen world is shrinking, making the water cycle more unpredictable.
For billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise.
Countless communities and ecosystems are at risk of devastation.
As we work together to mitigate and adapt to climate change, glacier preservation is a top priority.
We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow down glacial retreat.
And, we must manage meltwater more sustainably.
Saving our glaciers is a survival strategy for people and the planet...'-Glacier preservation
Glacier meltdown risks food and water supply of 2 billion people, says UN
‘World Water Day was formally proposed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro by the United Nations General Assembly, and it was adopted the year after as an annual observance day focusing on the importance of fresh water.’
“When we cooperate on water, we create a positive ripple effect – fostering harmony, generating prosperity and building resilience to shared challenges.
“We must act upon the realisation that water is not only a resource to be used and competed over – it is a human right, intrinsic to every aspect of life.
“This World Water Day, we all need to unite around water and use water for peace, laying the foundations of a more stable and prosperous tomorrow.”- United Nations, ‘Water for Peace’, 2024
Water is Life
Photo credit: ACWA Power
The well-known statement 'No water – no life' is significant in the life of all living things on earth. Water is accepted as the basis of life on the planet (Jeremiah 2007:2). Nothing on this earth has life without water. Water was in existence even before life:
‘In the beginning of creation, when God made heaven and earth, the earth was without form and void, with darkness over the face of the abyss, and a mighty wind that swept over the surface of the water.’- (GN 1:1-2)
Water is the Common Good Not A Commodity
“The water that we extract from nature for various uses must be managed as a common good, a shared good that must be accessible to all, but not appropriated by anyone,” said Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.
‘Water is a human right. It needs to be managed as a common good. Considering water as a commodity or a business opportunity will leave behind those that cannot access or afford the market prices. Commodification of water will derail achievement of the SDGs and hamper efforts to solve the global water crisis, already further exacerbated by the triple planetary crisis: climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and toxic pollution, affecting the life and health of billions around the world.’-Water is a common good not a commodity: UN experts
‘Children are most impacted by water scarcity’
'Mahana and Firdaoussou walk a quarter of a mile for water'
‘Sisters Mahana, nine, and Firdaoussou, 12, collect water from a well a quarter of a mile from their home in southwest Niger.
Firdaoussou makes this trip 12 times a day, meaning she doesn’t attend school and spends her time helping with housework.
The well only has enough water for four days before it runs dry, so Firdaoussou will be forced to walk even further to fetch water.’- Photo and the text Credit, see HERE
The painful and wasteful Consequences of Water Privatisation, Debt-austerity regimes and Climate Change on Women Farmworkers across the Global South.
Zina Amour (Algeria), Scène de famille (Family Portrait), 1967/ Via Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
…’One report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that it takes women in sub-Saharan Africa forty billion hours a year to collect water, equivalent to the annual labour time of the entire French workforce. The estimated funding gap for building water infrastructure in all of sub-Saharan Africa is $11 billion, which, according to Oxfam, is equivalent to less than two days of earnings for the world’s billionaires. Given that sub-Saharan African countries pay a total of $447 million a day servicing their debt, it would take 25 days of this debt service to construct adequate infrastructure to pipe water into every home in the region. And yet, the world shrugs off the imperative to liberate African women from the onerous and anachronistic work of carrying water for kilometres on end when a piped system could be funded by a fraction of the massive social wealth generated on the planet. Such a project would require industrial growth to manufacture these pipes and water systems, creating jobs and lifting people out of the poverty wages that continue to asphyxiate women around the world…’-Twenty-Five Days of Debt-Service Payments Could Emancipate African Women from 40 Billion Hours of Water Harvesting
The Day of Infamy
The Day They Privatised Water
When they sold off the source of life, they destroyed life and humanity
‘Did you know that in 1988, England and Wales became the only countries in the world to privatise their water supply, handing over regional water companies to private monopolies? These water companies were sold debt-free so there was no economic justification for their privatisation.
It was simply a theft from the tax payer, a way of turning our most essential public service into a money-making scheme - a scheme which has paid out about £72 billion in dividends. A scheme which has racked up £56 billion in debt which, surprise, surprise, the tax payer has taken on.
In other words, 77% of those dividends were only paid out because the water companies didn't pay their own debts…’-Water Privatisation Was A Historic Mistake
Privatisation, extreme weather and politics: How Britain’s waterways became an ‘open sewer’
Water companies raise bonuses to £9.1m despite record sewage discharges
An anti-water privatisation march in Glasgow, April 1992. Derek Copland/Alamy Stock Photo/via The Conversation
‘In the spring of 2024, residents of the south Devon harbour town of Brixham kept falling ill. Their symptoms – including “awful stomach complaints, bad diarrhoea and severe headaches” – went on for weeks. A retired GP who ventured to the pub after finally recovering from the illness recalled that, when someone asked those present to “raise their hand if they hadn’t had the bug”, not a single hand went up.
Given the controversies about raw sewage discharges that were swirling at the time, the drinking water seemed an obvious suspect. Many local residents contacted their water provider, but by late April, South West Water was still insisting the water was safe to drink, and that all tests for contaminating bacteria had returned negative.
Then suddenly, the company issued an urgent “boil it” note to thousands of households in Brixham and nearby villages and towns in the Torbay region. A tiny parasite that causes the intestinal disease cryptosporidiosis had been discovered in the water supply.
The contamination was eventually pinpointed to a defective valve under a stretch of farmland which had allowed cow faeces to enter three holding tanks of drinking water – downstream from the main water works, and from where the water’s quality was routinely tested…’-Britain’s ‘broken’ water system: a history of death, denial and diarrhoea
Thatcher said water privatisation would be successful, instead they are dumping raw sewage at scale
Revealed: warning to ministers over privatised water kept secret since 2002
It is estimated that we can survive twenty-five days without food; six days without sleep, but only four days without water.
Water Privatisation is a Scandal, Prem Sikka, Emeritus Professor, University of Essex (Water companies have loaded themselves with debt while pumping sewage into waterways, hiking bills and paying out billions to shareholders – a scam against the public that will only end by taking our water back from the profiteers.)
‘The British economy has been subject to a giant experiment: privatisation on a scale more extensive than in almost any other OECD country. Perhaps most strikingly, following the lead of Augusto Pinochet’s Chile, in 1989 the Conservative government privatised the water industry in England and Wales. This outlier status remains to this day: the majority of water infrastructure in other countries is held and managed by the public. To see the disastrous effects of this experiment, one need only look at England’s crisis-ridden water companies—or brave a swim in an English river flooded with sewage…’-Mathew Lawrence, director of the Common Wealth thinktank and author of Planet on Fire, in The Economist, Jul 10th 2023
Debunking the Greatest Heist and Con Artistry of All Times: A Case Study of Water Privatisation in Britain
Massive Sewage Discharge for the People
Pennies from Heaven for the Shareholders and Obscene Bonuses for the CEOs
‘Privatisation has meant failing water infrastructure, increased sewage spillages and reduced confidence in the safety of drinking water, while shareholders pocket billions.’-The water industry is a national scandal
The Inhumanity of Water Privatisation in Britain
I worked on the privatisation of England’s water in 1989. It was an organised rip-off
Privatisation, a very British disease
‘Water is Love’ - Ripples of Regeneration
A film by Ludwig Schramm, Rosa Pannitschka, Martin Winiecki, Isabel Rosa Zabou and Emily Coralyne Bishop
‘Water is Love: Ripples of Regeneration ', an award-winning documentary, is about rehydrating the landscapes around us through community-driven decentralized water management. Following a group of youth shaken by the climate crisis and portraying powerful examples of climate restoration on three continents, “Water is Love” offers not only a beautiful story but an opportunity to bring people together and inspire local action.
Whether it’s the beyond-devastating fires in Los Angeles, the historic drought in the Amazon or ever higher global temperature records, facing the reality of climate breakdown can make us feel powerless and overwhelmed.
We know you don’t need more information about what is going wrong.
That’s why Water is Love focuses on what can be done. It shows that a world of ever more catastrophic drought, floods, and fires isn’t a foregone conclusion. Through restoring water cycles and ecosystems - Earth’s natural climate regulating systems - we can make this Earth a place that’s habitable for all beings, that is regenerative, honored, and abundant.’-Text via Kosmos Newsletter (Learn more here.)
“Water is Love” follows a group of young people grappling with the climate crisis while we journey around the world to share inspiring stories of regenerative ecosystem design to create water retention in communities, villages, and regions.
We touch upon traditional ecological knowledge, how water makes climate, and the importance of restoring complete water cycles.
Through inspiring stories from successful projects in India, Kenya, and Portugal, we aim to spark conversations and actions that contribute to a regenerative and resilient world. As we’re facing both the growing devastating impacts of climate disruption and the failure of governments to act, this film points to an often overlooked need and possibility: community-driven decentralized water management as a critical key for surviving — and thriving in — this century.
Watch the trailer- Water is Love
A must-read book
Liquid Love uses language and culture to show how all of us are closely related to water.
- Of course we all start in water - in our mommy's belly - resting, breathing, feeding and growing in water.
- Of course we all need water to live - that is a no brainer.
- Of course, water is directly linked to our survival as a species and to the survival of our blue planet.
- Of course, both our earth and humanity are comprised of about 75% water. But, there is more.
Water has direct connections to the entire culture. H2O is closely connected to music, art, science, love, spirituality, philosophy, religion, medicine and economics. Plus, water references have been abundantly sprinkled through our human language. This is where Liquid Love works its magic.
Liquid Love uses language - quotes to be exact - the show illustrates our ties to water.
Water in language can represent "all of it". It's the big picture, the big metaphor, the big idea. Simultaneously, water in language can represent the
smallest common denominator. It is the parable that all of us can understand.
Let this book move through you like a gently running brook. Let it splash upon the shores of your consciousness. Let it show you a way to wade back
into the interconnectedness of your daily life. Allow yourself to be inspired by the moistness of it all. Start to see water outside of the cup. Let yourself see a different side of H2O.
Through this new view - this new transformed view - look at other areas of your life that you may have taken for granted ... like water.
Notice the value. Respect the source. Revere your own life.
For only with love and reverence will we care for all that matters most.’
Learn more and buy the book HERE
- Details
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 2635
First published in 2018
William Morris: The Man for the Common Good
‘In his designs, William Morris combined his two greatest passions:
the wonder of nature and a socialist belief that everyone should have access to art and beauty.’- The Guardian
A mural depicting William Morris, near the museum in Walthamstow that is devoted to him by Christopher Everard.
William Morris is a Prophet of our Time
A Reflection on William Morris’ Message of Hope and Urgency
At the time when there is a full-frontal assault on beauty,dignity, simplicity, arts and crafts, truth and justice, contentment and inner peace, when those with the lowest moral compass are chosen to be ‘leaders’, when plundering, exploitation, devaluation and denigration of Mother Nature and the destruction of our Mother Earth is celebrated and seemingly rewarded, all to satisfy the lust for money, I want to share a personal and rewarding story of healing with you, an inspiring journey of self-discovery, seeing life differently to what is promoted by the "Moneyed men" social media barons and their likes. We must never forget that, at a time when everything is becoming more digitalised, soul-less and meaningless, it’s fundamentally vital and significant to remember that arts and crafts matter, beauty and dignity matter, handmade things matter, sustainability matter, and campaigning, activism, championing beauty matter.
‘He towers greater and greater above the horizon beneath which his best advertised contemporaries have disappeared.’-George Bernard Shaw
‘a master of all exquisite design and of all spiritual vision’-Oscar Wilde
William Morris and His Legacy: The Virtues of Simplicity and Valuing Beauty
N.B. This journey of discovery is in two parts. Part I, begins on a beautiful, warm and sunny day in 2016 when I visited the William Morris Gallery in Walthemastow, London. Part II is when I revisited the Gallery on a beautiful winter day on 19 January 2025.
Part I- Visiting William Morris Gallery 2016 
Image credit:Laura's Beau
I have learned that simplicity, contentment, appreciating beauty, and thriving for sustainability should be my path to a rewarding and meaningful life
Wandle by William Morris, 1884
As the complexity of my life grew, I discovered a gem: The key to Happiness is a simpler living, when life becomes all about finding joys in the simple pleasures of life, being content with solitude, quiet, contemplation, the awe of the daily sunrise and sunset, savouring the moment, the centrality of family and friends, the anchors that have kept me afloat in often stormy and challenging seas.
The wisdom and the healing power of simplicity
The day I discovered the wisdom of William Morris
“So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.” — William Morris. Photo credit: Via Medium
‘This overwhelming giant of unsurpassed vitality, who encompassed many lives and produced in his own short span more than a dozen ordinary men, is a supreme example for us today. What he strove for, his unswerving pursuit of excellence, the standards he lived by, and above all his vision of the good life we could all have if we cared passionately enough to achieve it, make him tremendously relevant to us today. He is one of those few men whom history will never overtake!’- Robin Tanner, in perhaps one of the best articles I have read on William Morris
‘Science has in these latter days made such stupendous strides, and is attended by such a crowd of votaries ... that she seems to need no more than a little humility to temper the insolence of her triumph, which has taught us everything except how to be happy. Man has gained mechanical victory over Nature, which in time to come he may be able to enjoy, instead of starving amidst of it ... it may well be that the human race will never cease striving to solve the problem of the reason for its own existence; yet it seems to me that it may do this in a calmer mood when it has not to ask the question, Why were we born to be so miserable? but rather, Why were we born to be so happy?’- William Morris
Nota bene
I had heard about William Morris, but I knew next to nothing about who he was. I can vaguely remember years and years ago visiting an old house in Coventry. I commented on an old-looking, but amazingly beautiful wallpaper in the hall and the landing. Our guide told me it was by William Morris, the Arts & Crafts Movement, you know! That was it!
Then, in 2016, our oldest Son, Kevin, and his partner, Sarah, who were working in London, bought a house in Walthamstow, E17. Over the years we visited them many times, and each time we got to know and enjoy the area more.
One occasion stands out very clearly in my mind, when we walked from their house to William Morris Gallery, a short 15-20 minute walk from the centre of Walthamstow. It was a beautiful spring day, a day we remember fondly.
At the entrance to William Morris Gallery, 2016. Photo by Anne Mofid
My wife and I had an amazing day, a guided tour, discovering pearls of wisdom, gems of beauty and more, as we went from floor to floor and room to room. Anyhow, to cut a long story short, we went to the Gallery and the beautiful gardens a couple of more times, whilst all the time I was reading and learning more about William Morris, influencing my thoughts and my vision for an educational tradition that emphasises ideas of “virtue” and “the good life”, beauty, wisdom and goodness, durability and sustainability.
The beauty of living simply: the forgotten wisdom of William Morris
William Morris: Walthamstow’s Gift to the World
William Morris, born on 24 March 1834 at Elm House, Walthamstow, East London, was a revolutionary force in Victorian Britain: Known for his fantastic floral prints, William Morris designed tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics and furniture during the latter part of the 19th century. He was also a celebrated artist, poet, writer and social activist. His genius was so many-sided and so profound that its full extent has rarely been grasped. Many people may find it hard to believe that the greatest English designer of his time, possibly of all time, could also be internationally renowned as a founder of the socialist movement, and could have been ranked as a poet together with Tennyson and Browning. His designs are still widely used today and so are many of his ideas and principles. Morris has enabled us to dare to imagine and envision a more beautiful world. Throughout his life he laboured through his creative endeavours to beautify the earth and the lives of those who dwell upon it. Long may it be so.
‘Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement: a sanded floor and whitewashed walls, and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside; or a grimy palace amid the smoke with a regiment of housemaids always working to smear the dirt together so that it may be unnoticed; which, think you, is the most refined, the most fit for a gentleman of those two dwellings…?
‘And then from the simplicity of life would rise up the longing for beauty, which cannot yet be dead in men’s souls, and we know that nothing can satisfy that demand but intelligent work rising gradually into imaginative work; which will turn all “operatives” into workmen, into artists, into men.’—William Morris
William Morris: A Man for All Times
Simple Life, is a Good Life
Why a Simple Life Matters: The Path to peace and happiness lies in the simple things in life
As many sages and philosophers of love and beauty have reminded us ‘much of our suffering comes from adding unnecessary and disturbing complications in our lives. We seem to be continually weaving elaborate conceptual webs around even straightforward events. We distort reality and shroud it with complications by superimposing fabricated mental constructs. This distortion invariably leads to mental states and behaviours that undermine our inner peace and that of others.
‘How many human enterprises and noble causes have failed due to unnecessary complications. We need to simplify our thoughts, simplify our words, and simplify our actions. We need to avoid falling into circular mental rumination, pointless chatter, and vain activities that waste our precious time and engender all kinds of dysfunctional situations.
‘Having a simple mind is not the same as being simple-minded. Simplicity of mind is reflected in lucidity, inner strength, buoyancy, and a healthy contentment that withstands the tribulations of life with a light heart. Simplicity reveals the nature of the mind behind the veil of restless thoughts. It reduces the exacerbated feeling of self-importance and opens our heart to genuine altruism.’-Matthieu Ricard
William Morris: A Life for Our Time
THE ARTS & CRAFT MOVEMENT: The Slow Pursuit of a Slower and Simpler Life
‘All art starts from this simplicity; and the higher the art rises, the greater the simplicity.’
William Morris and His Legacy: The Virtues of Simplicity and Valuing Beauty
Daisy wallpaper, 1862 designed by Morris. Photograph: © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest
The Beauty of Simplicity — Living a Simpler Life, William Morris’s golden rule for a good and worthwhile life, his words and sentiments resonate with me. Why, you may ask? To answer this question, I need to go back in time, when, over twenty five years or so ago, I faced, possibly, the biggest challenge to my way of life. It could have been very disastrous. But now looking back, one consequence of that very sad time, was the fact that ‘Simplicity’, ‘Living Simply’ which was forced on me, has turned out to be the biggest gift I could have ever had.
Continue to read and discover more: The beauty of living simply: the forgotten wisdom of William Morris
Morris’ influence on me has been positive and great, rewarding and nourishing. Below I have noted a few examples of my postings, old and new:
World in Chaos and Despair: The Healing Power of the Simple Things in Life
Simpler life and simpler times: A Journey in Life
In these troubled times let us be ordinary and enjoy the simple pleasures of life
In Praise of Frugality: Materialism is a Killer
The secret to happiness? Contentment!
......
Part II- Visiting William Morris Gallery, 19 January 2025
Standing at the entrance to the Gallery, 19 January 2025.
William Morris & Art From The Islamic World
Images:
Peacock, c.1870, Iran, hollow brass with pierced decoration and turquoise. © The Society of Antiquaries of London (Kelmscott Manor)
Wild Tulip, 1884, designed by William Morris for Morris & Co., block-printed wallpaper. © William Morris Gallery
‘The first exhibition to explore the influence of art from the Islamic world on William Morris, one of Britain’s most important nineteenth century designers and thinkers.
A principal founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris was responsible for producing hundreds of patterns for wallpapers, furnishing fabrics, carpets and embroideries, helping to introduce a new aesthetic into British interiors. While it has long been acknowledged that Morris was inspired by Islamic art, this is the first exhibition to examine this important aspect of his artistic journey in depth.
Alongside his own iconic designs, outstanding examples of Islamic textiles, ceramics, metalwork and manuscripts from Morris’s personal collection – now belonging to major UK institutions including the British Library, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge – are brought together for the first time to reveal the wider impacts of these objects, their designs and impressions on Morris’s creative output.
The umbrella terms “Islamic world” and “Islamic art” are widely used to facilitate the categorisation of art produced in areas where Islam was the dominant religion or the religion of those who ruled. However, they perpetuate the notion that there is a single identity or uniformity within the vast output of production from across huge geographical regions. These ideas will be explored and discussed further in the exhibition and public programme.
Featuring over 90 works, the exhibition demonstrates how some of Morris’s best-known designs such as Flower Garden (1879), Wild Tulip and Granada (1884) were directly inspired by Islamic surface design and its technical application. This exhibition sets out to enrich our appreciation of Morris’s work and broaden our understanding of the underlying influences of this quintessentially British designer. The exhibition is made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Garfield Weston Foundation.’-William Morris Gallery
On the day of my visit to the gallery, I took many photos. For a selection of the pictures I took pldease see HERE
For more published online photos see HERE
** The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication, Tulips and Peacocks: William Morris and Art from the Islamic World (Yale University Press).
‘An introduction to William Morris’s personal collection of artworks from the Islamic world and how they came to influence his pattern-making One of the principal founders of the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris was responsible for hundreds of patterns for wallpapers, fabrics, tapestries, and carpets that are iconic of the late nineteenth century and continue to resonate today. It is now widely acknowledged that his artistic production was stimulated by his deep familiarity with embroideries, woven velvets, silks, carpets, and metalwork from Iran, Syria, and Turkey, which he collected throughout his lifetime. Ranging from popular nineteenth-century tourist merchandise to rare artefacts of historical significance, Morris’s collection is a testament to the interconnectedness of global artistic traditions and the enduring importance of recognising the contributions of various cultures to the evolution of his design and craftsmanship. This highly illustrated publication offers diverse perspectives in contextualising Morris’s role within contemporary debates around colonial collecting, Islam’s representation in the museum context, and issues of cultural appropriation from contributors within the field of British Arts and Crafts and Art from the Islamic world.’
Buy the book HERE
A Simple Manifesto for a Simpler Life: Why Simple Life Matters
‘We live in a time when many people experience their lives as empty and lacking in fulfillment. The decline of religion and the collapse of communism have left but the ideology of the free market whose only message is: consume, and work hard so you can earn money to consume more. Yet even those who do reasonably well in this race for material goods do not find that they are satisfied with their way of life. We now have good scientific evidence for what philosophers have said throughout the ages: once we have enough to satisfy our basic needs, gaining more wealth does not bring us more happiness.’- Peter Singer
Simple Living Promotes Virtue, Which Promotes Happiness
Simple Living is Guided by Economic Prudence, ‘Waste not, Want not.’
Simple Living Allows One to Work in order to Satisfy the Basic Needs and Thus, Enjoy More of life’s Experiences which Suffices for Happiness
Simple Living Promotes Serenity Through Detachment
Living Frugally Prepares One for Tough Times
Simple Living Enhances One’s Capacity for True Pleasures of Life, When Less is More!
Frugality Fosters Self-Sufficiency and Independence
Simple Living Keeps One Close to Nature and the Natural, when one is Guided and Inspired by the Wisest Teacher: The Mother Nature
Simple Living Promotes Good Health and Spiritual Purity
Simple Living Allows us to Speak of Global Responsibility and a Global Community. It Encourages us to Take Action in the Interest of the Common Good.
Journey to Healing: Let Me Know What is Essential
GCGI is our journey of hope and the sweet fruit of a labour of love. It is free to access, and it is ad-free too. We spend hundreds of hours, volunteering our labour and time, spreading the word about what is good and what matters most. If you think that's a worthy mission, as we do—one with powerful leverage to make the world a better place—then, please consider offering your moral and spiritual support by joining our circle of friends, spreading the word about the GCGI and forwarding the website to all those who may be interested.
Image credit: Laura's Beau
'William Morris was a man of tremendous energies, his accomplishments astonishing in their range and depth. He became successively a poet, embroiderer, pattern designer, calligrapher, dyer, weaver, translator, architectural preservationist, socialist, and book publisher and printer. As the head of the internationally successful Morris & Company, he devoted himself to the decorative arts. His influence was wide and long-lasting, on both sides of the Atlantic.
In this book William Morris the man, and ‘The Firm’, are considered by Pat Kirkham, of the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York. British design after Morris is surveyed by Gillian Naylor, an established authority on nineteenth- and twentieth-century design and Edward R. Bosley, Director of the Gamble House in Pasadena, California, looks at Morris and American Arts and Crafts. These essays frame detailed studies by Diane Waggoner of Morris’s stained glass, interior decoration designs and book publishing ventures, and of his successor at Morris & Company, J. H. Dearle.
The Beauty of Life draws upon the rich holdings of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, which with the recent acquisition of a major William Morris collection, including fine printed books and the archive of Morris & Company, has become one of the outstanding centres for Morris study in the world.'
Buy the book HERE
- Open Letter to Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England
- ‘To Big Sur, with Love’: Revisiting the Healing Power of Wanderlust
- Israel-Gaza ceasefire must lead to a lasting peace
- Jimmy Carter: The Prescient President who Foresaw the Coming of the Global Warming
- To My Mind: The Tenacity of Hope, Beauty and Poetry to Save the Day