Keeping things fresh…
I’ve struck the inevitable ‘no mans land’ of blogging… almost a month of nothing written.
How do I write something new, interesting, entertaining, funny, inciteful that doesn’t cross the territory and material of previous rants? How do I write something that is more than a self indulgent, oroboros prose, about why I haven’t been able to blog?
The simple answer is : well, eventually I’m going to have to cross that territory. I open an atlas and, lo and behold, I see that the world is round… working on that basis, I’m eventually going to have to. On my map of the world, there is no undiscovered country labelled “Here there be dragons!”
To be completely honest, I kind of knew when I started blogging almost a year ago, that eventually my rabid rants about the insipid banality and stupidity of those who populate the lower rungs of the foodchain would wear thin. A person can only be angry and cynical for so long before everyone looks at them and goes “Yawn, hand me the remote”.
And with all that in mind, I came upon the idea of people asking questions of me… suggesting topics for me to comment on. A measure of success can be found not in how many visits the blog gets… I found just by posting a funny picture of a leprechaun toting a machine gun will get you a few thousand hits leading up to St Patricks day. Sadly, as much fun as I could have filling this blog with leprechauns, I personally wouldn’t find it fulfilling to visit on a regular basis and I can’t see why anyone else would.
So… this past month has been spent in quiet reflection, contemplating various things as life has spun maniacally around me like a hurricane. Admittedly, finding time to write is a challenge on it’s own, but toss in a variety of events around everyday life, and blogging runs the risk of becoming “something you did” as opposed to “something you do”.
Which, I guess leads me to asking this question: what to do to stop life from getting stale? How do you avoid the monotony of a repetitious world that seems content to force mediocrity and homogeneity on us all?
Luckily for me, my better half pushes me to get out of the house and experience new things regularly. This time last year we missed the local Panyiri Greek Festival to spend a weekend in Melbourne; my first visit to the city, and certainly not my last. I could easily move to Melbourne, but having said that, I said the same about Sydney after my first holiday there and soon realised on the second that it’s just too intense a place for me to enjoy life in. Melbourne, on the other hand, would only be a challenge from a meteorological perspective. Crowded House got it right when they recorded “Four Seasons in one Day”, as the unique way that Melbourne’s weather changes was so adeptly captured in those lyrics.
This past weekend we got to Panyiri to enjoy a few hours of Greek food, drinks, music, dancing and festivities… and ironically, the weather for Brisbane this weekend was very Melbourne-like, with torrential tropical rains and lightning strikes on Saturday, followed by clear sunny skies on Sunday. In what can only be described as Mother Nature’s schizophrenic twin, Sunday was bright and sunny… and completely windblown and freezing. In the past, festivals like these would be something I’d avoid, but being with someone who grabs life by the ears and demands to be shown the lot tends to get me to try things I’d otherwise have missed.
I’m not alone, I know, when I say that I don’t always understand the world that’s going on around me… I try to make sense where possible, and respect the differences in culture and opinion that arise, but it’s not always easy. A lot of the past few years has been spent with Western Governments instilling fear into their populations, and even the most open minded of us have been affected on one level or another.
Which is an area where I think maybe the people of the USA need to look at this blogs title… and try and avoid the stale, musty conservatism of another 4 years of Republican rule in the White House. They are on the precipice of history making events that can radically change the world we live in over the years to come. I am, of course, referring to the Democratic candidature of either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, for the presidency.
What a time to live! To see either a woman or a black man as “leader of the free world” represents a magnificent opportunity for the collective ‘waking up’ of a nation that has been living in perpetual fear for the past 8 years… all because of a man with the moral fibre, wisdom and intellectual capacity of a turnip sitting with his finger over the button ready to nuke nations his ignorance has bred fear of.
And sadly, I fear that Americans will do as they usually do… and that is, when in fear, even the most balanced neutrals will vote conservative. That will mean McCain becoming president, another 4 years of conservative rule, and more steps down the path of ignorance and fear.
And whilst Australians have decided that a Kevin Rudd led Labour government is a better choice than the Liberals (who, lets face it, blew their credibility to hell numerous times) for the coming years, there are doubts now that the substance will match the window dressing. Again, we chose a fresher approach… I just hope it’s not full of preservatives masking the use by date.
Ultimately, what ‘keeping things fresh’ means for me… is to take comfort, security and solace in those in my life that matter… and accepting that some things are meant to change and that that change is not necessarily a bad thing.
After all… if change never happened, we’d not have half the things that make life cool.
