A Virtual Tour

Did I tell you we'd moved house? With so much else to blog about, I don't think I've got round to mentioning that we moved into our new place a few months ago. Which is kind of rude, considering that I shared so much of the stress of our move with you. The least I can do is show you round...

One thing I like about the house is that there's a kind of warp in space-time between the front and the back. There weren't many houses with one of those in our price range. The front is all light and airy and kind of public. Our front garden is on quite a steep incline so that our house is elevated above the road, yet on the other side of the road the ground rises again, so that we're looking out on a great sweeping panorama of suburbia, with houses and gardens rising each upon the last, like something out of a painting by Mr Zip.

There's excellent scope for snooping here. If I wanted to, I could sit at our large bay window with a cup of tea and a writing pad and make copious notes on the doings of all our neighbors. If any illicit affairs go on, we'd be the first to know about it. Maybe that's an idea for another blog...

All in all, though, I think I'd rather sit at the back of the house instead. It's altogether different here on the other side of the space-time warp. It's cozy and private and it's like looking out on a meadow. There are cottage garden type flower beds near the house, while at the bottom of the garden on the far side of the lawn there's an apple tree and an overgrown patch of shade-loving plants and weeds. If you go out there at dusk, you can hear a very noisy rustling of leaves as our heavy-footed hedgehog comes traipsing through on its nightly rounds, rooting out supper. It's a good thing those slugs and snails and whatnot aren't too bright - or else are hard of hearing - or they'd be oozing off out of the way before the poor thing could get within sniffing distance.

The kitchen is kind of tiny and the porch is falling down, so we'll pass those swiftly by and take you up to the next floor instead, where there's a massive new bathroom with a walk-in shower. Our predecessor led us to believe he was into communal bathing - or at any rate, he clearly had this earmarked as a principal selling point for the house, being careful to emphasize that the shower and the bath would both take two people, though whether both appliances were supposed to be in use at the same time wasn't clear. I'll draw a veil over whether or not we've tested this out, but suffice it to say that we don't have to worry about getting claustrophobic when we're taking a shower.

The back bedroom used to be the kids' room and is decorated in glaring blue and yellow. There used to be a picture of Bart Simpson on the wall but our predecessor took it with him, which is kind of upsetting but I can't quite bring myself to bother to buy a replacement. Without Bart, the blue and yellow color scheme doesn't really make sense any more. It's like a piece of modern art which has lost that manifesto thing which explains what it's all about, and the room is now under threat of being magnolia-ed.

The front bedroom is even more light and airy and public than the room below - kind of like Turner meets suburbia - so it's rather intriguing that there aren't any curtains. Nor any means of hanging curtains. Nor any sign that there has ever been any means of hanging curtains. Curious, eh?

The last room on this floor is the tiny study - The Secret Of Life's control center.  You can commiserate with me for a moment about the impossibly cramped and squalid conditions under which I toil, then follow me up to the top floor, where you have to mind your head because of the roof beams. This once used to be the loft, but it is now an en suite bedroom, and due to the low ceiling it's the coziest room in the house. We can lie here and watch the sky though the Velux window.

From time to time, a white feather appears on this window. Some of our friends tell us that this is because we've been visited by an angel. We like this idea, but I have to admit that the skeptic in me keeps looking out for a balding seagull instead.

So that's the house. It's a nice place, but the main reason we moved was actually nothing to do with the house at all. It was because the part of Leeds in which we lived before was rather soulless. Here in Roundhay, there's much more sense of life. Just a short walk away is the Friends Meeting House, where Sally (who often leaves a comment here) runs an Eckhart Tolle group on a Monday night, and which hosts many other interesting meetings and classes: meditation, healing, yoga and so on. Further along the main street are bustling bars and cafes, while a bit further still are Roundhay Park and the Canal Gardens, which I may well write about in a future post. Here too is the Roundhay Fox pub, where you can sit outside on one of the rare summer days we have and watch the world go by - on its way to the park and back again - while the staff pour you endless refills of excellent coffee.

This being the internet, I'm conscious of the fact that the manager of the Roundhay Fox is likely to google this at any moment and set me straight, so I'd better point out that customers are really only entitled to one refill of coffee. But it's worth taking a chance or two in life, don't you think?

Which brings us back neatly to the subject of moving house. If you want to step outside your comfort zone, I recommend it. As I mentioned in that earlier post, Chris and I built up a lot of drama around the whole business. OK, so there was a guy along the chain of purchasers who was playing around and complicating things, so there was plenty of scope for drama. But then, in life there usually is. We didn't have to feed it if we didn't want to. Instead of getting all anxious, we could have just trusted, which on reflection would have been an awful lot easier on our nervous systems.

And after all, it turned out fine in the end. Which is probably down to Sally, who was using the law of attraction on our behalf all along. As indeed was Chris, who had written our names and our new address on a sheet of paper which she kept on prominent display at all times.

As for myself, I found that acceptance did the trick. As you may have gathered, I'm not exactly accomplished at putting out positive intentions, but when the sale got very difficult, I trusted nevertheless. I trusted that what would be would be and that whatever happened, it would be All Right. And as soon as I started thinking that way, it so happened that everything fell into place and the sale went through.

Which kind of begs the question, where should we put our focus: intention or acceptance? And is there a conflict here? Can we seek to attract specific outcomes in our lives yet also accept the way things are? I raised this point in my earlier post (Positive Thinking For Beginners) and The Secret Of Life reader Bet has also raised it here.

Meanwhile, Sally (who is getting rather a lot of name-checks this post) recently attended a retreat with Eckhart Tolle, at which he was asked about that incredibly popular guide to the law of attraction, The Secret - she has shared Eckhart's response here.

All of which makes me think: I've written quite a lot about 'acceptance' recently (in the posts How Does It Feel To Win A Million? and Ripples On a Sea Of Peace), so perhaps it's about time I turned my attention to the law of attraction again...

(I hope you liked the house, by the way. Do call again!)

Comments

[Sue Ann Edwards]

Thank You, {Simon}. That was like taking a vacation to your place. I smile, because in all my life, the longest I've ever lived in any house, is 5 years. Lived 12 years all in one state at one time but, not in the same city or house.

I missed the posts when you were moving...I bet they were juicy.

The last time I moved, we sold our business, we sold our house, we packed up our belongings and kids and started driving west. Operating very much on a leap of faith but leap we knew we had to do. It was a feeling, an urge, a rather upsettling urge, but to deny this urge felt like soul death.

I didn't know 'where' we were moving to. I only knew it was going to be an environment where there was still an essence of 'neighborly' in 'neighbors'.

After living in hotel rooms for 4 months, we moved 'here'. It's after my NEXT move, that I'm going to 'stay put'.

And out of curiousity, what kind of structure is that wall, that there 'can't' be hung any curtains on?

And in your pondering and ruminations, you might consider what your and your wife's desires, your FEELINGS of what you each and both were longing for. What experience you longed to feel. Then look around and, see if it isn't all there. Just as you both imagined in common. tada! 'the law of attraction'

[Sally]

Hi Simon
Many thanks for the many plugs........maybe there is a future for me as a life coach??

My immediate reaction to your ponderings at the end (I will clatter them out here cos I always follow the first thought which pops into my head before I have time to think it through)
............Set the INTENTION (for what you want to happen)
............know it will not make you happy .........therefore NON ATTACHMENT to the outcome is important.
............ACCEPT what is........because it is........regardless of whether you like it or not.
..........Remember to give GRATITUDE for whatever is in your life NOW........that is the attitude that draws more into your life!
And never take your Self too seriously.........there is light in enlightenment.......so live lightly .....we are only here for a short time.
These are only my feelings on the subject .........they can only be my point of view as I am living my life in this way at this time .........and it feels pretty damned good I can tell you!

Glad you got settled .......love the house!
Sally

[RubyShooZ]

It's always a matter of acceptance for me. It doesn't matter what the situation is but if I'm unaccepting of things then it's time for me to change - and the change that is needed is usually something inside myself.

At this point in my life I'm going through so many changes it's been hard for me to keep up. The best I can do is to try and keep going with the flow. I've tried in the past to change the flow but haven't had much luck in that department.

Remaining positive is good but not always possible for me. I do hope I'm making some sort of sense here - I've not been well nor sleeping properly.

Peace.

~ RS ~

[Simon]

Many thanks for the comments!

I'm glad you enjoyed looking round, Sue Ann, and thanks for your encouragement about the curtains. I didn't say 'can't' about them though - just that there don't seem to have been any at that window before. And there are a number of complicating factors - such as a low-hanging roof beam in an inconvenient place - which mean that it's not immediately obvious how they will go. But yes, I'm sure that a suitable solution will emerge - and probably all the more quickly if I spend more time imagining curtains and less time imagining posts on The Secret Of Life.

[Simon]

Thanks for your thoughts on intention, Sally. Mostly, they make perfect sense to me. But two things spring to mind:

You refer to the fact that whatever you get won't make you happy, with which I agree wholeheartedly because ultimate happiness is not dependent on exterior events. Whatever we get, we always want more... Yet doesn't The Secret (and indeed other material on attraction) talk about the importance of imagining the feelings of pleasure which will be produced by whatever we wish to create? The suggestion is that feeling these feelings is an important part of the law of attraction. So is there a conflict here?

And also: you speak of gratitude for whatever is in your life drawing in more of it. But surely if we are grateful for *everything* then we will *attract* more of everything: both the 'good' and the 'bad'. Of course we need to learn to *accept* everything in our lives, but isn't is better to focus our *gratitude* on those specific aspects of our lives of which we wish to create more? Otherwise how will the universe know what we want it to send us?

[Simon]

Ruby - You're making perfect sense! Acceptance is the priority for me too, and like you say, if we're not accepting then *we* have to change - because whatever will be will be, whether we like it or not. Even so, I think there's a place for intention too. I hope to write some more about this in an upcoming post...

[Liara Covert]

Must be nice to live in an area where you can meet up with like-minded people. The Eckart Tolle group sounds intriguing. I agree with you that we attract into our live the sorts of people and pursuits that we think about, so long as we're open to them.

Thanks also for sharing the story about your move. I would imagine many people could relate! Moving is another opportunity to decompress, if we choose to think of it that way.

[Simon]

Hi Liara - Thanks for your comment! Yes, we're lucky to have lots of spirituality-type meetings available round here - one of the benefits of city living, I guess.

As for moving, it is indeed a great opportunity for spiritual advancement! All sorts of stuff can shift, not just your address. Like my entire vinyl record collection, for instance, which shifted to the charity shop. And you know what? I managed to type that out without crying. There's progress, eh?

[Faux Wood]

Hope you are enjoying your new place. Sometimes a move can be just as good as a rest when it comes to life. We have moved many times in our lives but have finally found a place that is "home":-))

Excellent post...Di

[Secret Simon]

Many thanks Di, though in our case I think we could do with a rest as well as the move - they would kind of complement each other! It's good to hear from you - welcome to the blog!

[Marion]

Acceptance, acceptance, acceptance was drilled into me at AA meetings...page 449 of the The Big Book. My intentions will direct me, my acceptance will give me peace on the way.

Great post about your home, Simon, I loved it. I can see it so well in my mind's eye...very well done. I'm so glad you've assimilated your move so well, the record collection notwithstanding, lol!

[Secret Simon]

Hi Marion - I'm glad you liked the post - and I still have my CDs so all is not lost!

It looks like Acceptance 3 - Intention 1 so far. Or Acceptance 4 - Intention 1 if you count my vote too. (I've put down Sally as scoring for both sides!)

But of course, it's not about sides. Acceptance and intention can work together, as your comment suggests, Marion. I'm still working on a series of posts about the law of attraction to try to get this acceptance - intention thing straight in my mind. It'll be ready by Christmas, I promise!