April 9, 2020

For in many things we offend all (James 3.2 (KJV)).
We all stumble in many ways (James 3.2 (NIV)).

Maunday Thursday. WFH: DAY 20. 8.15 am: A communion. 8.45 am: I persevered with my endeavours to ensure that all my personal tutees and the postgraduates were accounted for and safe. At times like these, I feel like a shepherd. Letters were sent, sympathies expressed, apologies given, advice offered, and support reaffirmed. We’re each learning to help one another in ways that haven’t been called upon before. It’s a precarious business. Toes get trampled on.

After lunch, the School’s Management Committee was convened via a video conferencing link. I could get used to this:

Staff are working like Trojans to ensure fairness and doability.

4.30 pm: The daily constitutional. My routine is to visit the same place at the same time each day. I know this type of predictability (I call it consistency) appalls some people. The Vicarage Field is never the same place twice, and neither is my frame of mind. In conjunction, both discover things about each other that were missed on previous walks.

On my return home, I picked off the shelf Caleb Kelly’s (ed.) Sound (2011). I was drawn to a conversation between Michael Snow and Christian Marclay. The latter expressed his doubts about the nature of improvisation and the way in which working alongside trained musicians won him over to the idea that it could be relevant for him. His story was pertinent to my own predicament regarding the same:

Improvisation is about dealing with a moment instead of preparing something ahead of time … When you’re improvising you try to be as innocent, as spontaneous as possible, although you can’t help but to put in everything you know.

This would be the starting point for my reflections over the holiday period. A diary sabbatical until April 20.

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April 8, 2020
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April 20, 2020

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