Time to think

Saturday, December 14th., Yacht Club, London.

 

Interview with Lillah McCarthy and Drinkwater at Adelphi Terrace at 12.45. I promised to write "Judith" by the end of January, and they promised to produce "Don Juan" also. In the afternoon Captain Basil Dean came to see me about his London theatrical scheme. He said he could get and control £20,000. I definitely promised to write a play for him too. This, with Goodall's, Vedrenne's, and Lillah's, makes four plays!

We dined at the Galsworthy's, Grove Lodge, Hampstead, and the Masefield's were there. Mrs. M. and I got on excellently. Masefield gloomyish and very precise in diction. Fine voice. Diction of a public speaker. Galsworthy very nice. Ada Galsworthy adorable. 

 

Got into conversation with an American by the name of Wright. Interesting chap. Ascetic appearance. Metal frame glasses. I think he is a professor, but that doesn't mean the same in the U.S. as it does here. Told me he was a convert to buddhism, not as a religion but as a way of life. Asked me if I had tried meditation? I said I had no time to meditate. He said: "You don't have time not to meditate". That made me think. He said he had read some of my self-help books and found them valuable but the key to contentment was in control of one's mind, and that could only be achieved through meditation. Not as onerous as you might imagine apparently. I have been thinking about this since and I suppose I have a sort of meditation when I am walking at times: stepping out, breathing deeply, focussing on the moment, dismissing intrusive thoughts. Wish I had shared that with him.. There may be something in it.