Freelance Writer
“I feed the pigeons, I sometimes feed the sparrows too, it gives me a sense of ENORMOUS well-being” – Blur – Parklife A momentary burst whips my attention, particles dispersing in a brief explosion before returning to their centre as if pulled back by the sharp inhale of gravity or a length of bungee cord.…
Not every day can be like this, unfortunately. Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash Enniscrone, Co. Sligo. We are still locked down and Claremorris hasn’t drifted any further towards the sea, so I’m still reminiscing on pre-Level 5 surfing days. The sunny respite today from this strange series of storms reminds me of one of my last day’s…
The view of Ba Bể Lake, from my homestay in Pac Ngoi village. This is part 1 of a series of articles about a solo motorbike trip I took around north-east Vietnam in December 2018. Each story can be enjoyed alone, and together they form one big over-arching story. It’s about road trips, motorbikes, solo…
“One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Yesterday I talked about one often-overlooked tool we have for maintaining our mental health, perspective on the world, and sanity: small-talk. Being alone is seen by many as a bad thing, and there has been much recent psychological research…
Photo by Juri Gianfrancesco on Unsplash Here we go again So we’re facing into the strictest of lockdowns, and it’s just been announced that we’re not allowed to visit each other’s houses. We’re not even allowed (legally? No-one knows) step into our neighbour’s or our friend’s garden. You can practice anything, including being alone. And…
An overview of some of the practical aspects of joining a silent meditation retreat run at one of the Dhamma Centres around the world
Image: Keegan Houser on Unsplash I spent weeks and even months after doing a silent meditation retreat trying to put the experience and anything I learned from it into words. The results were a load of half-finished drafts of Buzz Feed-style “Top 5 Things a Meditation Retreat Teaches You” articles, never published as I never…
I did a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat in Japan earlier this year. There were so many things I could say about it and the benefits intensive meditation can give you, as can establishing a long-term practice. But after numerous failed attempts to put these things into sufficient words, I gave up. That’s when I noticed the one thing that has stuck with me – I’ve learned how to take action
Welcome to Gav Is Gone – I’ve been writing here for a while now so here’s a bit of a hello, and introduction and shpiel about what I’m doing here.
In which I try to convey the joys of bathing in communal hot baths with other naked men