The nine mandates, facets of wu wei 1. Honesty. Be unpretentious 2. Weakness. Be flexible 3. Modesty. Be a polite guest 4. Humility. Avoid pride and fame 5. Serenity. Be still 6. Kindness. Be generous 7. Desirelessness. Be empty 8.…

Our word bric-a-brac has the same root. An itinerant general fixer, using what ever’s to hand, in assemblage and repair.

Companion means “bread-fellow,” and looking up fellow brought this curious word, the Russian from 1936 for fellow-traveller.

Just suggesting to a friend of a friend who’s been a psychotherapist for many years that she would be able to make a good living as a cyberspace correspendent, posting therapeutic suggestions to people’s questions rather than meeting with them…