What an interesting post, full of experiences that might take years to process fully It raises lots of questions like why share the Milliband clip now after all this time? There's an obvious timeliness to it I guess in the counterpoint with current disclosures. It's interesting to reflect on how the act of resignation in all its senses, liberates the self to act in ways that might have felt unimaginable at an earlier time; and how organisations assert a collective identity and hold/bondage over the individuals who are part of them. It also raises reflections on the cost of being a reporter who is restricted from doing their job and how this can and will erupt in 'the right circumstances'. I could go on...........thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Karin - good question! I was discussing the clip with a friend recently, and wondered if I still had it on a hard drive somewhere. When I found it, I wondered why I hadn't shared it earlier.
At the time, I didn't want to burn bridges (though I seem to have specialised in that regardless), then I slowly moved on and it seemed like "old news", which was the working title of this post.
Anyhow, I've been reflecting on previous work as I start some new writing, and this newsletter helps me process what's important. I see I felt a lot of shame about my media experiences, as I explored in an earlier post – I felt I "should" have done more in all sorts of ways: https://ancientfutures.substack.com/p/iraq-new-york-times-rap
But the truth is that I did what I could, and it's taught me a lot about being human, which is really what I'm focusing on. Looking back at the clip, I felt a strange kind of empathy with Miliband despite my revulsion – an ambitious young man, trying to get ahead and doing whatever it took. I guess I did that myself until I got some rude awakenings. Then I wanted to be purified somehow, which is probably where yoga came in...
I was going to add an anecdote about running into him by chance in New York in late 2016. We were both in a queue in Whole Foods Market. He didn't look happy.
Thanks for this, Daniel. All very interesting. I felt rather sorry for Miliband being captured for/in posterity making such an inopportune remark, something that can happen so easily to any of us in these days of recorded talks. I will read the earlier post and reflect further.
It certainly can, Karin - thanks for saying that. I sometimes find myself wanting an edit button in the middle of giving a talk… As I wrote in the article though, the point of sharing it wasn’t to expose him for misspeaking but to talk about how news gets framed. The way it was all conducted left a funny feeling that stayed with me many years later, and only really makes sense in hindsight now I’m far from that world.
It's definitely a timely article at the moment so it would seem the workings of your psyche are connecting with larger movements afoot, assuming there is no causality! None of it is surprising, although the individual incidents can be shocking. With the workings of the human ego, it has no doubt always been thus. It's just the methods of capturing/technology are everchanging....
I think, it is totally alright that you shared that clip (recently) and I think, I understand why you didn't do so back then. It probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway, except possibly for a hefty dent in your wallet from an expensive lawsuit and adverse health effects.
With regard to your specialization on burning bridges I must say that in my experience this bridge often is already burning and one just breaks the rule to not point that out. We are expected to jump around pretending how it isn't very hot at all or how much we love that burning sensation.
For me, my interest in Yoga is also born out of a painful realization that I am not able to change the world by means of outward action - nobody can. From that follows that I have to look into myself - not exactly to change myself (as the saying goes), but rather to allow my authentic human nature to grow and see where it leads me. It might lead me to places I'd prefer to avoid but that, I fear, I have to accept then.
“It is no sign of sanity to be well adjusted to a sick society” (R.D. Laing)
Thank you, Raffael. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Re: specialising in burning bridges, I was referring to a tendency to end things dramatically, which felt a bit self-destructive. At the time, I took a lot of satisfaction in making it impossible to go back to old jobs. In hindsight, there might have been ways to reach some kind of compromise position, which could have been helpful in some ways (from keeping me paid to allowing me to write things that seemed to me "less bad" than potential alternatives...)
It's all a bit "academic" though - I couldn't really do any differently to what I did under the circumstances. And I see that I was guided by a similar realisation to the one you describe - nothing I could do would change "the system", so spending 30 more years getting annoyed about that seemed pointless, and I wouldn't have learned how to be more skilful without leaving to follow new paths.
Nice quote from Laing - I'm reminded of similar thoughts from Erich Fromm.
What an interesting post, full of experiences that might take years to process fully It raises lots of questions like why share the Milliband clip now after all this time? There's an obvious timeliness to it I guess in the counterpoint with current disclosures. It's interesting to reflect on how the act of resignation in all its senses, liberates the self to act in ways that might have felt unimaginable at an earlier time; and how organisations assert a collective identity and hold/bondage over the individuals who are part of them. It also raises reflections on the cost of being a reporter who is restricted from doing their job and how this can and will erupt in 'the right circumstances'. I could go on...........thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Karin - good question! I was discussing the clip with a friend recently, and wondered if I still had it on a hard drive somewhere. When I found it, I wondered why I hadn't shared it earlier.
At the time, I didn't want to burn bridges (though I seem to have specialised in that regardless), then I slowly moved on and it seemed like "old news", which was the working title of this post.
Anyhow, I've been reflecting on previous work as I start some new writing, and this newsletter helps me process what's important. I see I felt a lot of shame about my media experiences, as I explored in an earlier post – I felt I "should" have done more in all sorts of ways: https://ancientfutures.substack.com/p/iraq-new-york-times-rap
But the truth is that I did what I could, and it's taught me a lot about being human, which is really what I'm focusing on. Looking back at the clip, I felt a strange kind of empathy with Miliband despite my revulsion – an ambitious young man, trying to get ahead and doing whatever it took. I guess I did that myself until I got some rude awakenings. Then I wanted to be purified somehow, which is probably where yoga came in...
I was going to add an anecdote about running into him by chance in New York in late 2016. We were both in a queue in Whole Foods Market. He didn't look happy.
Thanks for this, Daniel. All very interesting. I felt rather sorry for Miliband being captured for/in posterity making such an inopportune remark, something that can happen so easily to any of us in these days of recorded talks. I will read the earlier post and reflect further.
It certainly can, Karin - thanks for saying that. I sometimes find myself wanting an edit button in the middle of giving a talk… As I wrote in the article though, the point of sharing it wasn’t to expose him for misspeaking but to talk about how news gets framed. The way it was all conducted left a funny feeling that stayed with me many years later, and only really makes sense in hindsight now I’m far from that world.
It's definitely a timely article at the moment so it would seem the workings of your psyche are connecting with larger movements afoot, assuming there is no causality! None of it is surprising, although the individual incidents can be shocking. With the workings of the human ego, it has no doubt always been thus. It's just the methods of capturing/technology are everchanging....
I think, it is totally alright that you shared that clip (recently) and I think, I understand why you didn't do so back then. It probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway, except possibly for a hefty dent in your wallet from an expensive lawsuit and adverse health effects.
With regard to your specialization on burning bridges I must say that in my experience this bridge often is already burning and one just breaks the rule to not point that out. We are expected to jump around pretending how it isn't very hot at all or how much we love that burning sensation.
For me, my interest in Yoga is also born out of a painful realization that I am not able to change the world by means of outward action - nobody can. From that follows that I have to look into myself - not exactly to change myself (as the saying goes), but rather to allow my authentic human nature to grow and see where it leads me. It might lead me to places I'd prefer to avoid but that, I fear, I have to accept then.
“It is no sign of sanity to be well adjusted to a sick society” (R.D. Laing)
Thank you, Raffael. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Re: specialising in burning bridges, I was referring to a tendency to end things dramatically, which felt a bit self-destructive. At the time, I took a lot of satisfaction in making it impossible to go back to old jobs. In hindsight, there might have been ways to reach some kind of compromise position, which could have been helpful in some ways (from keeping me paid to allowing me to write things that seemed to me "less bad" than potential alternatives...)
It's all a bit "academic" though - I couldn't really do any differently to what I did under the circumstances. And I see that I was guided by a similar realisation to the one you describe - nothing I could do would change "the system", so spending 30 more years getting annoyed about that seemed pointless, and I wouldn't have learned how to be more skilful without leaving to follow new paths.
Nice quote from Laing - I'm reminded of similar thoughts from Erich Fromm.
Best wishes,
Daniel