Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.
I don’t have just one thing in my mind at any time. My brain is a buzz of activity from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep. I can concentrate, but I need to be utterly engrossed in something for that to happen. Jigsaw puzzles will often still my mind to the extent that I am thinking of nothing else. Meditation last thing at night will often do it. Watching my daughter play football when she was younger would keep me concentrating, but that was helped by me writing reports on every game I watched for seven seasons, so in a sense I was still thinking of two things at once. Just to give you an insight into my mind, here’s the things that have flitted in and out of it in the first few hours of wakefulness.
What’s the time? My phone needs charging. I let Albus out at midnight. Where is he? Now he’s in I can sort out his breakfast. He’s gone into Hana’s room but I will do it anyway. I need a drink – breakfast tea or Earl Grey? Let’s look at my new library book. It’s good, at least for the first two chapters. I wonder what’s going on in the world? Why do I want to know?! Let’s look at sport. Nothing interesting there. I have my twitter challenges to do. Let me look at my Spotify for the playlists for them. Why do I build up all these playlists and then never listen to them? How can I choose a favourite album? Surely that’s impossible for any normal human being! Ah, Janet’s up. Must do her drink. Let’s look at the prize crossword for today. It’s a hard one. I wish my general knowledge was better. Why do my legs feel so tired? I should be able to walk more than I do. Maybe it’s because I have been doing less walking than usual. I must build it up. I don’t need to go shopping today. I got everything yesterday. Maybe we can have a walk this afternoon. I really must get on with my exercises because I can’t have breakfast until I do. The dumbbell work is definitely improving. I can go up to 3kg tomorrow. My form is better and I have noticed that I am reshaping my physique slowly. That’s good. I need breakfast but I don’t feel like getting it yet! What’s the prompt for today’s blog?!
It’s a really interesting insight into my brain and why it can be quite exhausting at times having a continuous internal monologue. I wonder if it’s anything to do with Asperger’s? Oh well, here I go again!!
Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.
I avoid random encounters with strangers as much as possible. If one happens I use the approach outlined in the title. When I was younger there was the ‘nutter on the bus’ fear. That was where the person who was most likely to talk to you was the one you were well advised to avoid! They were people who were often lonely, but sometimes they were unsettling and you would get off the bus early in order to avoid the encounter. This has been the basis of my approach ever since. I can’t imagine wanting to talk to someone I don’t know and I don’t want someone I don’t know talking to me.
I am sure many people will say that I am missing out by taking this approach to life, and I may very well be doing so. However, I am not going to change now as my avoidance tactic has ensured that my life is easier and more predictable. Remember, a stranger is someone who you probably wouldn’t choose to talk to in normal situations. I will always be polite but I will definitely not encourage any interaction.
Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
I think it’s impossible to single out one specific decision. If you hadn’t done A then you wouldn’t be in a position to do B and for that reason C would never enter the equation and so on. As human beings we are constantly trying to find patterns, reasons and starting points. This is because we want to make sense of life and to imagine that there is a guiding hand, either of God, whoever you perceive that entity to be, or fate. The greatest likelihood, however, is that we are random organisms living random lives in a random universe. Pretty much the only element that is fixed is the human factor, which is that we are imperfect creatures making decisions with very little information and giving power to those who do not deserve to have it.
We love a story and we constantly tell narratives that we pretend to ourselves are true or logical. In fact the stories we tell are just as made up as the fiction we read. So, if you find a decision for today to talk about, the decision will be interesting and no doubt seem important, but it will be part of a random series of events that you are retrospectively putting a structure to.
What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?
I can’t think of any place in the world that I would never want to visit purely for itself. Every country has amazing attractions or scenery and every journey abroad teaches you something new. It’s all about how safe or accessible a country is. So, there are countries, of course, where war or natural disasters make travel impossible. There are countries that are such a huge undertaking in terms of travel that it simply isn’t worth the effort. There are countries whose societies and political systems make them anathema, either permanently or temporarily. There are places where the lives of so many people are proscribed because of the social strata they were born into. I would feel wrong supporting any country like that with my money and as a result I will probably not visit a country that would be fascinating.
I think it’s perhaps a better idea to look at areas of your own country that you have never been at times like this. Yes, there are huge areas of the planet I still want to visit and I am sure I will see some of them in the future, but there are huge swathes of the UK that remain a complete mystery to me and which I would love to visit. Ironically the cost of a three or four day break anywhere in the UK is about the cost of a week in Europe these days, and the roads in the UK are almost permanently gridlocked, but I feel as though I need to explore my own country at this time of increasing political and social upheaval in the rest of the world. Of course, that political and social upheaval is, potentially, only one election away if our own version of right wing autocracy takes hold. However, it may not come to pass and people from the UK and other countries will continue to search out the rich and long culture of the islands.
Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.
My favourite family member growing up was my Nana, Grace Evelyn Quinn to give her her full name. She was my partner in crime and had a very mischievous sense of humour. When I was 7 I first went to stay with my grandparents and I was immediately more relaxed than I was at home. I know that often feels like the case with grandparents but at home it was quite full on in terms of expectations, which was never the case at their house. I was allowed to watch the morning sessions of the Munich Olympics in 1972 when I was there even though they didn’t turn the TV on until 6 o clock when I wasn’t there. It was a small thing but I really appreciated it. She was a huge fan of music and was quite happy to listen to chart music so they even let me watch Top of the Pops when I was there. As I got older she became more of a confidante and I could talk to her about just about anything.
She moved to Rochester when I was a teenager and I went over to see her almost every weekend so she had a reason to cook a lunch for herself. I really enjoyed going to her flat and we talked about so many things and I learnt a lot about her. I moved over to Japan in 1995 just after her 90th birthday and I said I would be over there for three years and would see her when I got back. She said that was not going to happen and she was quite adamant about it. She passed away a few weeks before her 94th birthday, two weeks before we returned, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised. She kept my spirits up throughout a difficult childhood and she was always there with fantastic advice. Without her, things would have been far more difficult.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 