In 1980 my girlfriend and I were backpacking in Africa. Running low on money but still high on travel fever, we thought it would be a good thing to work on a mission station for a while. Decision made, we went to visit the priest of the nearest parish, telling him of our intentions. Naturally he asked why, to which we answered “to help people”. Without hesitation he replied “to help yourselves and others?” It turned out the recruitment process was quite complicated, so we hitchhiked on, enriched with this unforgettable truth he had shared with us. How often do we believe or pretend we are helping others, when in fact we primarily have our self-interest at heart. Look no further than the countless so called Non-Government Organisations, many of whom, as I have experienced on my travels, are purely profit driven and manipulate world politics in their own favour. Activists of all calibres, e.g. peace, human rights, environmental etc. live a comfortable ex-pat life style funded by tax payers and donations from well-meaning people, doing little other than keeping the problem alive in order to justify their reason for being. Try the Middle East or Southern Asia, it’s bustling with them. Genuine activists, i.e. those who truly intend to bring about change, usually work on the front line or in a day job and they cease their activities once their goal is reached. We ought to ask ourselves: Are we doing charity to help people, or to suit our own needs, to be seen and recognised?
Inspired by boredom
It is common knowledge and logical that we are able to think more clearly when relaxed, in absence of distractions. Some of the greatest scientific break-throughs and inventions were made in a state of relaxation, such as the principle of Archimedes or Einstein’s E=mc2. Both were inspired and stimulated by the elements of the moment, such as water, landscape, flora and nature’s physical forces. On the other hand, I find that active boredom has a similar effect i.e. when combined with a monotonous task, like cleaning the house or weeding the garden, during which time much of what I’ve written in books and blogs occurred to me. The best plants grow out of manure, active boredom is the manure of the mind. Having exhausted all the inspirational capacity of weeding and cleaning, which didn’t take long, my mind now wanders freely and effortlessly, brushing a frameless canvas.
Happy New Year
Having breakfast on the balcony for the first time since March last year without freezing my butt off, I have survived the festive season and the exceptionally warm Winter & Spring that was forecast but happened to be the opposite, i.e. cold and windy. I haven’t made any resolutions. If I want to make changes to the way I live, I ‘just do it’ and forget about resolutions, no matter what time of year, saving much stress and disappointment. Weary of all the daily crime, disaster, scandals & doomsday prophesies I am trying to focus on the good & positive. Here we go: emission reduction targets have been postponed to 2050 , and logically, so would have the long predicted environmental apocalypse, keeping both, the ‘Climate Change’ activists and deniers occupied and trading for another three decades. Haven’t heard from Kim Jong-un for a while, perhaps he has taken a break from missile testing to celebrate Christmas, as his contribution to ‘World Peace’.
The ‘Trump Wall’ hasn’t been built yet, maybe ‘another good omen’. My prospects for 2019 are good, considering that almost every appliance and power tool in my household has broken down & been replaced in the previous few years, hence they are now all under warranty, should this be anything to go by for ‘peace of mind’, especially since I’m pretty much broke. Not to worry, the government has forecast a massive economic boom. What a comforting prophesy I mean “who wouldn’t trust a politician”?
My books still haven’t found a new distributer after the last one went bankrupt 5 months ago, however, authors are well used to waiting and being ignored by the publishing industry that’s not exactly known for its efficiency or service.
Fortunately what I write is eternal, so my books don’t expire.
Let make take this opportunity to wish you all the best for 2019.
“May your wishes come true”.