Sahara… صَحَارَى How can one word still evoke so much? Even now, as time moves on at such quickening pace… Worlds begin to collide, continents drift. Again I am standing with feet between two lands. Yet for once I am not shaken, but stilled by this dissonance, this ambivalence… Life continues to move forward into […]
Israel, that ancient and mysterious land, a name, a word so evocative, a place like no other, with the vast waters of the Mediterranean on one side, and a whole host of powerful Arab nations surrounding on all other sides, has been a strong and fascinating country for me to explore… and another key destination […]
Burning red suns fall across a land of sand, colour and burgeoning hearts, where wild creatures tall as trees roam freely, the lion awaits, an oasis brings rest and peace, and the stars glow brightly in an ink-black sky. You are swallowed into another portal of culture – mesmerised by the colours of the world transforming before […]
“Through the eyes of a child you will see the world just as it ought to be” – unknown. Welcome to Ghana, West Africa – a country with a people so open, welcoming, soulful, you will instantly find yourself in the arms of one great family. This is a story about my African family, and […]
Dodamarg. Maharashtra. India. Alone. Free. Alive. You are deep in the jungle in Southern India, wading gently downstream, on the very edge of a river: fast-flowing, powerful, and swollen with fresh monsoon waters. You are in the safest, shallowest waters, under the thick canopy of tropical trees. You are alone, and you have never felt more […]
“I came into this life with humble beginnings – and I seek a humble ending. But what I look for along the way is to acquire a life worth living, a day worth getting out of bed for, a smile worth sharing, a hand worth holding. A place worth finding. I just want to look back at […]
Everybody knows I love me a bit of England from time to time. Catching up with family, old blast-from-the-past friends, sentimental places and nuances of English life I’ll never fully shake off as the self-professed Aesthete I am. Cities like Oxford and Cambridge are no exception. Seriously, I have much overlooked these absolute golden […]
Morocco. North Africa. We’ve been here before. This time we will see it through new eyes. Since my first trip back in 2017 I haven’t quite been able to stay away. So vivid, alive – its landscapes, winding cities and warm-hearted people. The place is crazy! In the heat, the bustling medina; weaving in and out […]
Florence. Italy. 2013-2019. It’s been a long, winding love affair. A lot of poetry, a lot of tears, a lot of cigarettes and laughter. Forever, somehow, will that city be associated with this aesthete. (and, of course, this diary) I’m always drawn back, somehow, even when I think it’s finally over. Life speaks to me ~ […]
A little poem and a little visual. Today’s musing… Film clips from Ghana and Morocco, 2017 and 2018 respectively. Words from my mind, circa 2011. Jx *** all inquiries: diary.aesthete@yahoo.co.uk ***
Welcome to 2019 one and all! I am so happy to write those words. What a privilege to be alive and well and still moving forward in my journey. Each new day and each new step up the tall ladder of my dreams is a day well spent, and I regret not. To celebrate the […]
☩ ירושלים Even the very name fills me with a certain hope, a lightness; an awe. Heckles spontaneously prick up all over my body every time I think back. A place of deep fascination for me since I first knew it existed at all. And yet, somehow, I feel it’s always been with me. He has […]
…and that’s my promise to the world ~ to keep it that way. As time goes on, I find the same thoughts and feelings coming back to me, sentiments that I have had from the very beginning. Strangely enough, right now as we approach the end of 2018, I feel very similar to how I […]
…and Believe in Your Heart “Believe in your heart that you’re meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.” – Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart …even if a thing feels totally and wholly like an ending, perhaps even the very ‘end’ itself, quite often, in time, you will see it was […]
* Ghana, Year III – l’épilogue White mists clear, revealing a horizon of pure gold. The spirit beckons you forth, as your journey reaches its final end. Moons have waxed, ebbed and waned. Many suns have risen, eclipsed and set… as is the nature of celestial bodies. In time you will learn to accept their failings… […]
So they say that blood is thicker than water. And whilst that may be true, I have recently developed my own saying ~ Spirit is thicker than blood. 2017 has been a very interesting year for me. 2017 has been a very difficult year for me. And yet, 2017 has been a year of great […]
♫ – “Koan – Klaus Wiese” People have called me many things, given me many titles, accolades, nicknames and honours. In fact I have called myself many things. An artist, an Aesthete, a pilgrim, a wanderer, a muse. Truth is I am not any of those things – no Christopher Columbus, Byron, Dorian Gray; not […]
Read Part 1 of my Journey through Ghana here Kpando lies close to the vast Volta Lake. Leaving the orphanage behind we began our journey one day, into the Bush… You see I’d heard a whisper that beyond the lake lay a huge area of protected and untouched ‘original Bush’ where nobody usually goes. There […]
Boom! That’s the feeling you get in your chest when you first step off the plane and feet touch the land of Africa. The heat, the chaos, all the faces turned towards you as you make your way through the crowds and find out how this new place works… the feeling as your toes curl, […]
My time in the Gambia, West Africa, was met by different energies. Some dark, some bright. A chiaroscuro crosshatch of contrasting light. I was helped across the border by a self-professed prophet, crossed the mighty river, was harassed by local scammers, kissed an adult crocodile, got caught-up with a python, danced naked in tropical rains, […]
Many golden suns have circled the arc of the sky and your time in this magical land is nearly coming to an end… You have been welcomed into this coastal realm by all her people, you walked her sandy shores arm in arm, traversed her rocky plains and her dusty cities under her guidance, you […]
Everybody’s Free. I Am Free. I Have Learnt the Truth of My Freedom. I Have Felt the Power of Falls. Ghana. Africa. 2015/2016. I took myself off one morning on an expedition deeper into the lush Volta Region. A place where mountains rise to blue skies flecked with fluttering bats, trees grow apparently to the heavens, […]
“Life for me is about moving on, staying strong, being free – progressing, always improving, doing, seeking, finding… and sometimes keeping. I’m happiest when I’m on a journey – whether inward or outward. I detest still waters of the soul – my spirit bursts and gushes forth, like a river. I am raw and alive. Freedom […]
I think of life as the cycle of a tree. Born from a shell, protected and warm, you take your first leap, break your primordial bond and dive, unseeing; you are plunged deep into the beyond you’ve been sensing and craving for some time. You are released. A giant tap root surges through the cold, […]
~ Feverish Flamenco, Arabic Baths and Dancing in Fountains ~ Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain. City of domes, fountains, arches and spires; home of Flamenco; collide of two great continents ~ Europe and Africa. The pride of the West fixed atop the exotic grandeur of the East. Seville bewitched my senses, enriched, seduced and beguiled me. I was […]
Dear Desmond. My little Desmond. My perfect little fragile boy. It’s me. I can see me there, reflected in your eyes. A black shadow… colour faded… I think about you every single day. I remember the smell of your afro hair, the sound of your giggling voice, the feel of your skinny legs wrapped around my […]
There is a light, a light no darkness can take away from us. It is as much outside as it is inside. A light that can power the whole universe. Some of us have forgotten it, and yet some of us still remember… “Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached […]
Take that fever! Been feeling ill a lot recently – seem to be getting one illness after another. This winter has been unkind… If you don’t know what neutropenia is you should look it up. It’s hell. But spring is finally here! Apart from planning my next trip through Africa (Ghana again, Burkina Faso, Mali, […]
As the taxi turned the corner, heavy and slow (as somehow we’d managed to squeeze in about eight passengers into a five-seater (of course, this is Africa)) the Adaklu Mountain first came into view. The air was hazy, heavy and humid, swirling vultures and black eagles the only thing breaking up the patchy white and blue […]
I felt very free in Mysore. A beautiful city. They call it the City of Palaces. I remember vividly watching the glorious domes and arches and spires whirl-by around me as we sped through, in and out of people, cows, cars, tuk-tuks and market-vendors. Travelling around a city in India, come day or night, on the back […]
Behold! My global pilgrimage has thus far brought me to some truly extraordinary places, and for the first time brought me on safari in Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu, and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve – in southern India. Here, cut off from all main roads, noise and chaos, the stampede of big towns and light pollution, you are surrounded by tropical […]
~ Sponsors, Partners, Collaborations ~ Write yourself a page in the diary of an aesthete… Since the launch of dairyofanaesthete a couple of years ago our family has grown daily. Thousands of people from all corners of the world have connected over the medium of this site and I couldn’t be happier or more inspired by this incredible […]
“…Then with nothing at all, But the little we are, We’ll have conquered all time; All space, the sun, and the stars.” – Jacques Brel Take yourself on a journey through the centre of Europe, the heart of Belgium; to Brussels – a city of no fuss, no pretense – just a mirror; a canvas to arrange the colours of […]
How the Lord has blessed me with a life of distinction! As I take the narrow gate, this beautiful and heart-breaking existence, I look back, remember, recall, celebrate the many colours and emotions of my journey… and what a journey! Thank you to all those who have helped me along the way. There has been […]
I have had a season full of love and beauty. So blessed. How thankful I am! These last three months in Europe have been a blessing, truly – time spent around grand architecture, in medieval towns, with dear old pals, precious family, breathing clean air in the mountains, feeling the creative waters flowing, connecting with […]
