Evening View

Managed a walk post work and pre dinner tonight, pretty blowy and just pretty too.

I picked up a read in one of the bookshops in Oxford "Running with the Pack" by Mark Rowlands. Having previously really enjoyed "What I think about when I think about running" byHaruki Murakami a few years ago I thought I'd give this a go to help me get my running mo-jo back.

Mark is an English Professor of Philosophy in Florida and what I hadn't really grasped before I opened the book is that this is really as much a book about philosophy by a professional philosopher as one about running. I've just finished the first chapter, - his running story is still at the start line of his first marathon and I've been introduced to Aristotle, Wittgenstein and Heidegger(at least 2 of whom are newcomers to me). Now I thought naively so it seems that I run for the mental health benefit, or to keep slim(less fat), or to return to my youth or something but apparently in his meaning of life ponderings these are transactional so don't count when thinking about meaning which is in chapter 1 something to do with facing my inevitable death. Admittedly I'm only part way through the book but if that's the reason I'm not feeling motivated to get my budgie smugglers and vest on and head out unless I've got my auto defibrillator with me.

It's not really a good idea to let some academic develop his thesis and stop a tenth of the way through, so I'm going to stick with it, for me if there's a meaning to it that is instrinsic rather than transactional that it must be something to do with joy. I'll let you know what the philosopher thinks if I survive til the end of the book.