I arrived in Canterbury on a late fall day. The air is still warm in the pale sunshine and the nights are cool and damp. I am looking at this year as a kind of retreat – I am leaving behind a very busy life, and going into a fairly structured environment where I will be required to think deeply on topics that have to do with what it means to be a spiritual being in a scientific age, without my regular distractions. I am looking forward to the opportunity to be alone with my self and my thoughts.
My new (allegedly furnished) flat is quite Spartan. There is a bed, table and chairs, loveseat, chair, and a kitchen with a stove top and oven. What more does one need really? This first week has been taken up with the mundane tasks of minimally furnishing my flat (Can I make do with only one wooden spoon? Much as I like sitting in cafés, do I really want to be without reliable Wi-Fi? One pot or two? Etc.) So far, I am enjoying thinking of what I can do without. I deeply appreciate G coming with me to help set up during this first week. It would have been much more time consuming, as well as more technically difficult without him. Tonight we had our first dinner cooked at home.
The flat itself is in a plain, fairly modern building. From my window on the 4th floor, I look down onto a small well tended garden, with a brick path leading up to a thickly wooded bank. There is a tempting sign at the foot of the bank. An omen, perhaps?
A notice on the road to wisdom? We shall see….
In The Temple of Men & Women 