◯ BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO LIFE
  • ◯
    • welcome to your world >
      • why make the most of it >
        • what's the most you can make of it
  • BASICS
    • learn >
      • why learn >
        • you can >
          • twenty-one things you could learn
        • it's good for you >
          • some other things that are good for you
        • you have to >
          • what else you absolutely have to do
    • laugh >
      • do you really need a reason to laugh?
    • live and let live >
      • what everybody wants >
        • love >
          • two more things we need >
            • purpose
            • respect
          • and two things everyone wants to be >
            • happy sometimes
            • safe enough
    • celebrate >
      • good reasons to celebrate
    • cherish >
      • what's to cherish >
        • fifty-nine things to cherish
  • PERSPECTIVE ADJUST
    • the glass is half full >
      • your horizon
    • your woes are trivial by comparison >
      • empathy and action >
        • empathy
        • action >
          • what action to take
    • it's a phase you're going through >
      • change and rest and loss and growth
  • ABOUT
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • why choose what to pay?
  • CONTACT

about

BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO LIFE

has been long in the making

i felt the world could perhaps do with something like this
because in a way i wished that something like this had existed when i began life
in the world
at large

so i started this as an experiment in communicating thoughts
in layers 

as early as about the time of the millennium

there even was a simple website
simpler even than this

i then thought i needed to finish it all before i could share any of it
and so i took it all down
and because there was no deadline
and i had other things
life
to be getting on with
i rested this for a while

i have since worked on the project sporadically but with long gaps in between

while i became more and more convinced the world could perhaps do with something like this
i also felt nowhere near ready to presume that i was the person to provide it

but as the situation of the world became more acute
and i gained the experience of life itself
and as the wisdom of those who have gone before has become ever more readily accessible
but also ever more lost in the noise of the world
i realised there comes a point

there comes a point where you have to do the thing you know can be done

and so now
a quarter of a century later
this is still very much a work in progress
and while i feel
not exactly confident or ready
but i am now
shall we say
prepared
to finally go live properly
though gradually
cautiously
in september 2025

the project will now build over time
and over time more elements will be added

most of what you find here is what i consider to be
common sense
and you're likely to have heard or read
 most of it before in one form or another
i lay no claim to novelty or originality in thought really
as i draw on those who have thought and taught before

what is unusual
perhaps
is the way this is written
and structured

i hope it helps

it may be a little confusing at first
but you will soon find
how it all makes sense

what i don't want to do at this stage at any rate is
put myself forward
because this isn't about me
it's about you

be assured though that this is a personal project that has no affiliation to any organisation corporation or institution
it receives no funding or sponsorship and doesn't sell or advertise or charge for anything
it's free

while freely available
this content is nevertheless copyrighted
​
this means that you may quote link to and embed any of it as long as you credit this source
and don't pass it off as yours or as anyone else's or as anything that it isn't
and you may not monetise it in any way


if you want to comment query or contribute your thoughts please use the contact page to get in touch
i shall be glad to hear from you


thanks
enjoy
live and let live

the optimist

​◯
©ALL RIGHTS RESERVED   ◯ BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO LIFE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS – YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE HERE TO HELP IT GROW
  • ◯
    • welcome to your world >
      • why make the most of it >
        • what's the most you can make of it
  • BASICS
    • learn >
      • why learn >
        • you can >
          • twenty-one things you could learn
        • it's good for you >
          • some other things that are good for you
        • you have to >
          • what else you absolutely have to do
    • laugh >
      • do you really need a reason to laugh?
    • live and let live >
      • what everybody wants >
        • love >
          • two more things we need >
            • purpose
            • respect
          • and two things everyone wants to be >
            • happy sometimes
            • safe enough
    • celebrate >
      • good reasons to celebrate
    • cherish >
      • what's to cherish >
        • fifty-nine things to cherish
  • PERSPECTIVE ADJUST
    • the glass is half full >
      • your horizon
    • your woes are trivial by comparison >
      • empathy and action >
        • empathy
        • action >
          • what action to take
    • it's a phase you're going through >
      • change and rest and loss and growth
  • ABOUT
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • why choose what to pay?
  • CONTACT