Well, it didn't really happen, did it? It seems that particular muse has departed, taking with her any pretension or even desire to do anything with this big pile of words that I keep stepping over in my everyday thoughts. I suppose really, I just don't have time, especially with the longer evenings this time of year. I don't have my computer so I am forced to write on this tiny, unhelpful phone screen, which I really dislike.
Also, there is the issue of location. I mostly spend my leisure time in Bristol now. There is so much going on here. Cities are such vibrant places. Recently I have taken to wandering round the city during the day, photographing the excellent street art. I would add some but I am trying to write this on my phone and the mobile version seems not to make adding pictures particularly easy
Nature is very beautiful in many cases and can inspire awe or reverie. But it seems to me that one can have too much of it. And I do. It is a privilege to work on a sunny day in a woodland or garden and probably very good for whatever neurological functions we interpret as a soul. But after a while the whispering grasses and the different murmurings of individual trees in the wind becomes a little too familiar.
In the city there are many people. This really is a self-evident fact that verges on tautology. There is evidence all around of the workings of humans, for all the variety of implications. There is art, there is litter, there is industry and there is convenience. But for all the commonality of the Human Condition, there is unpredictability. People do, along with predictable behaviors, many individually unique things. Even gait varies between individuals. From the confident stride of the man in the expensive linen suit, through the care worn weary trudge of the lady carrying heavy bags of shopping, to the girl slipping self-consciously out of the gym in her. Lycra attire, there are myriad ways of moving, each of which might, truthfully or deceptively, tell a personal story. There is much here to occupy the curious mind.
That the refuge of solitude remains is a comfort. But for the mind to light up like night time photos of interlinked cities seen from space requires the novelty and stimulus of other human beings, at least for me.
1 comment:
When I do not have my (or any other "proper") computer, I hardly ever blog. Even on my ipad, which is tons better for that than my phone, I don't like to type more than a few lines of text. As I am so used to "blind" typing with all 10 fingers, I want a proper keyboard where I can type nearly as fast as the words come to mind.
City life can be enriching, but nature (or what we take for it nowadays) does that, too. For me, it's all in the balance. I live close to the centre of a small-ish city of 94,000 inhabitants, and not far from the big city (Stuttgart). While I enjoy having everything I need within walking distance, and being able to attend all sorts of events and go to restaurants, bars and "my" Irish Pub at the drop of a hat, I often get to the point where the sheer number of people and of course all the noise that comes with them is too much.
Then all I want is to walk on my own, and walk I do.
Anyway, it is always good to read from you.
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