Author Archives: C.J. Birch

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About C.J. Birch

I was born on Thursday 13th July 1972 in Harare, Zimbabwe, to an English father and a South African mother. I was christened Catherine Jane Birch and - from the outset - I've been inquisitive about most of life's elemental questions; its myriad paradoxes and unpredictable anomalies, their sources, solutions and their propensity for unmitigated change. From a very young age I was captured by the enigmatic life process, the challenge of living and what it 'means' to be alive. I spent countless invaluable hours in nature, watching the world at its work. I had a fascination for everything around me, curious about what things were, how and why they worked, what they represented in relation to one another. I began writing at the age of 5. Journals, stories and poetry, illustrations, have been a constantly evolving source of quiet self-reflection, expansive expression throughout my life. I'm fortunate to have travelled many miles, to have visited a variety of differing destinations and though I've learned a lot about life in the last 50 years, my questions about its complexities are neverending. I currently live in the south-east of England, having returned to the United Kingdom after a particularly harrowing period of 7 allegedly 'invisible' or 'non-existent' years of absolute hell in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. I've decided to erase those memories, altogether. My 15-year-old son lives in Switzerland, with his father.
22 Jun 2015 · 12:36

Language – Blog No. 29

earthhour

Until you have been taught a language other than your mother-tongue, you cannot appreciate what it is that you have learned to speak.  You cannot be sure how you speak, either.  The solution, therefore, is to decide in which other language you would like to become fluent and become familiar with its people.  That is the best way to begin anything.  Make certain you get a teacher that knows what they are speaking, too, otherwise it’s unlikely that you will ever be able to communicate properly.

There are languages that are more beautiful than others.  Some places have ways of saying things that resonate with a person’s soul, their entire being.  Silence, too, is a language.  It is not simple to speak in silence, but it is beautiful.  I was told once that the French have a word – or a phrase – to describe that moment right before orgasm, which I think is particularly special.  I should like to know if that is true.  If it isn’t, perhaps it should be.

Language serves more purposes than communication.  It carries in its essence everything we have all ever been.  When we think in that way about ourselves, the world as we know it, it would make sense to value each and every language that has ever been developed.  It would make sense to value the people that speak those languages, too.

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15 Jun 2015 · 13:21

Angels – Blog No. 28

angels

A white feather is said to indicate the presence of an angel.  The recent presence.  Should there be proof to the contrary I would like to see it.  Whether you believe in angels or whether you don’t is not really what matters, the importance of believing in something is what is helpful to your cause – i.e. your life.  If you are still of the opinion that those who choose to believe in a ‘greater’ something are delusional, you should perhaps ask them about their illusions.  If they have none – if they do not subscribe to illusion in the first place – then it is not possible for them to be delusional about a ‘greater’ something or any ‘other’ something, either, when all is considered.

An angel’s reputation is for ‘watching over’.  For protecting.  It is not a reputation that an angel takes lightly.  That is for a good reason.  Where protection is necessary, angels have their purpose.  If there should be a person on this planet that does not need protection from time to time, that would surprise me.   It would probably also delight me.  It is occasionally vital to feel delighted.  It is also occasionally vital to feel safe.

There is a good reason, too, to have guardians for what is commonly referred to on Earth as ‘Hell’.  Hell has some very valuable assets.  Should people be disinclined to believe that that is the case, they should visit it.  They may be pleasantly surprised by what they find behind its doors.  Mind you, not just anyone can walk through its doors.  As for ‘Heaven’, there is a passcode for Hell.  Naturally if you fail to fit the passcode, you cannot gain entry and you are automatically redirected back to Heaven.  Nevermind.  When given the choice, that is where most chose to go.

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08 Jun 2015 · 10:28

Catharsis – Blog No. 27

catharsis

It is helpful when you take catharsis seriously.  It is a process of addressing, accepting, processing and purging.  That there are four steps to the process is neither here nor there in the big scheme of things.  There will always be as many steps as are necessary.  Catharsis comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.  There is a form of it to fit each and every person, you just need to know what works best for you when the time arrives for you to attend to your betterment.

It is fairly easy to understand that your catharsis cannot be decided for you by another.  The point of it is to eradicate a personal pain.  To fix wrongs and right rights.  Make amends where you can.  In light of the fact that for each person traumatic is something different, it is to be expected that the form a recovery takes will match accurately the damage done.  Anything other than a cathartic process made-to-measure by the person on the receiving end of said damage would not be practical.

If you are unsure about how exactly to procure a catharsis for yourself that will work, it is possible to change that uncertainty by finding out exactly what damage has been done to yourself.  It is no good hiding from that truth.  For a catharsis to truly work it needs to know the insides and outsides of the person for whom it is working.  There is only one way to do that:  to be present and counted every time something happens to that person.

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06 Jun 2015 · 14:44

The rumour years ago that I was not anybody’s wife was not a rumour. It was true. As was the rest of what I said.

Rumours – Blog No. 26

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06 Jun 2015 · 14:42

The best rumours are the ones that end up in the slip-stream of Chinese whispers. The concoctions that come out of that particular collaboration are astounding. Especially – and seriously especially – when those ‘Chinese’ are not Chinese. Then things become very interesting. You cannot twist a whisper and then blame the fact of your misunderstanding on a lack of communication.

Rumours – Blog No.26

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06 Jun 2015 · 14:40

In my time, I have seen a few. Heard a few, too. A rumour is an interesting thing. Like an urban myth. There are some outrageous ones. Like the one about the big foot – the yeti – last seen fixed firmly in the clown’s mouth. That was a particularly good one. The other one that took off was the one about a cereal bigamist. He liked Oaties and Pronutro.

Rumours– Blog No. 26

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01 Jun 2015 · 09:20

Preferences – Blog No. 25

preferences

There is no specific time to start having preferences. The children that demonstrate at a young age what they like and what they do not like are more inclined to remain independent thinkers. When you teach a child to conform, because that is easier to handle than a free-spirited child, you are working against Nature. It is not natural to sit still for hours on end being force-fed information that is quite possibly of no consequence in the bigger picture.
If there was a choice between references and preferences, I would choose preferences because they are honest. What do references mean to anyone when they are written with an ulterior motive? Motives are good to work with unless they are ulterior. Then it is better to work with intentions. Intentions are questionable at the best of times, but they are never ulterior.
How does a person learn what they prefer? They try different things. They cultivate an opinion and they discern for themselves what is best for their learning, their journey. You can only have a preference when you have had something better than what you knew before. A preference does not refer to a negative. It indicates a positive. It means you choose one thing, above another, if given a choice between the two.

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25 May 2015 · 14:00

IT – Blog No. 25

IT

When you consider that a computer responds to instructions which predate its reading of them, it becomes clear that unless there is a code-break written into the programme doing the instructing, there will be no halting the run of that programme. In other words, be careful what you set in motion, there may be no way of slowing it.

Alarmingly, should the encoder neglect to use both foresight and hindsight – and fail to plan contingencies for virtually every conceivable problem that might crop up – there is little he or she can do but stand on the sidelines and watch if unforseen problems should arise and trip their systems. It is worse than infuriating for an IT sideliner when that happens, it tends to expose the glaring gaps in their actual understanding.

Technology is everything, and nothing. That is its power. Can you imagine the entire world wide web and its networks shutting down for a day? Just one day would wreak havoc on this capitalist planet. Not everywhere would feel it immediately, but the effects of such a shut-down would knock on, and on, like dominoes. There is a renewed respect that must be afforded technology when considering the grip it has on mankind.

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22 May 2015 · 14:05

Keys – Blog No. 24

keys

When Alice was required to shrink in order to fit through the hidden door, the ‘Drink Me’ potion was her key. When using the ‘Eat Me’ key, she outgrew the house. These inconveniences did not deter her. They made her more curious. She decided to find The Key That Fits Every Lock. That would take a lot of looking, but it would save a lot of time.

Apart from the fact that That key could open any – and every – lock, it was also more often to be found on her keyring when she needed it most. Once a key has been eaten, it’s been eaten. Of course trying new keys was advisable when they were made available, but picking locks with That one key was quicker.

The charm bracelet that Alice carries is living. That way, it is adaptable. When she needs its bearing, she will wear it. When she does not need it, she will share it. There are occasions when she will want it – whether or not she needs it. I suspect when that happens she will get it. She is, after all, its servant and master.

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18 May 2015 · 09:06

Liberation – Blog No. 23

lovetrue

Liberty is a sketchy ideal. It works in principle, but plain principle is not good enough. In fact, it never was. That is why we prefer to use the word ‘freedom’ when describing a state of feeling liberated. Liberty is a label for an illusory intangible – and what is the point of that? There is none. I find these days that there is no point in most things, but that is no reason to neglect them. It would be irresponsible to the future to leave any karma undone.

I believe each person has their own understanding of liberation. For some, being free from bitterness and hatred – irrespective of the reasons for which those two particular diseases have been fostered – is absolutely everything. For others, having found freedom from the excesses of unjustified oppression will be the be-all and end-all in their days. Yet others will experience freedom to simply be, although it would seem that that is some way from being a reality on this planet. There are still too many people lying to themselves about what they are to know that kind of independence.

The most sought after liberation – in my opinion – is that of absolute acceptance. That seems to be, asides from happiness, what the majority of humans need. When did it become a blasphemous pastime to tell someone they’re perfect as they are – no matter who they are?  And who – in this age – dares call ANY other person ‘imperfect’?  In 2015, perfect is imperfect. Refusing to accept that which has been presented to you without guile or guise and then attempting to subvert that truth makes you a prisoner of your own prejudice. That is a dangerous place to be.

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