Category: writing

Fateful purchase

What is the best purchase you have ever made?

I have a couple of favourite books and a teddy and they are high on the list. While everything comes and goes they still remain. Strangely though, they weren’t purchases as such. The books were sent to me as a kid’s art prize. Instead of receiving a single book there appeared to be some kind of mix up and I was sent a second. The adjudicators allowed me to keep ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and it became my favourite childhood book. The teddy was a replacement after a family holiday. I felt guttered and by the time it was purchased, the original teddy was discovered languishing in the bottom of my sleeping bag. The books are still side by side on the shelf while the teddies remain together to this day. Sometimes the best purchases are the ones you fail to appreciate at the time. Years ago I cobbled together some savings and with the help of an advisor, opened a small investment account. It was this single purchase that helped me attain financial freedom so many years later.

Cat people

Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?

I have a lovely drawing of lions hanging above my bed and by way of familiarity, I associate with them. It’s mum’s drawing from her art school days. She would have been seventeen at the time and displays her innate talent for life drawing. I have various ‘zoo’ drawings of hers including pen & ink and graphite drawings. She would go on to top art school on graduation.

It’s strange because my association with big cats seems to morph between lions, leopards and tigers for reasons unknown to me. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t pretend to be a ‘cat person’ nor do I mingle with the pride risking life and limb. Besides, in today’s rather liberated world, animal association seems harmless enough. There are numerous examples of this kind of thing in anthropology. For instance, ritual dancing in animal costumes exists in South India and Vietnam (tiger and lion dancing). And there are examples in movies such as The Wizard of Oz, The Lion King and Cat People. I don’t pretend to understand this phenomenon but maybe there is something we subjectively appreciate. 

Mum’s drawing depicts a male lion and a cub. What is the narrative here? The adult is protecting the newborn. It seems only natural. So what could possibly threaten the infant with it’s parent apex predator? As it turns out, each member of the pride has specific roles and adheres to strict survival demands. But how could this be? The male lion seems to waste his time yawning and lazing around all day and not appearing to do much. Maybe the occasional roar and then lapsing into soporific, pleasurable napping while the lionesses go out to hunt (what a lazy bum, he should pull his weight and do his fair share etc – by way of human association). Turns out he hunts at night and must conserve energy to protect the pride from threatening rival males. 🦁😸

Kid at heart

What does it mean to be a kid at heart?

Reading stories, dreaming and enjoying simple things can be revealing. So too is the spark and special aura of certain unique individuals. They seem to have a wellspring of energy regardless of age. I have only ever met one or two of these in my entire life. They could be described as enlightened. But watch out for the fakes. They can mislead and shroud a troubled spirit beneath the surface. But some people really have a spark, a childlike energy that seems to set them apart. That wellspring of energy, that special something that has nothing to do with status, power or station in life. They attract everyone of course, including the needy, the troubled and equally, repel the narcissist or the politician. They seem immune to social norms, expectations and appear as outsiders. Perhaps we can learn something from them: we can take what we want – the life of an adult – and have the spirit of a child at heart. No, it has nothing to do with wanting and it’s not a shopping list. The enlightened don’t appear to want anything or need anything in particular. They just are.

Ozymandias

If you could have something named after you, what would it be?

It is unlikely I would have anything named after me but in the event that I could, maybe a charity or a school would be preferable over a city tower or a ship. Pipe dreams. These are merely external artifices, albeit symbols for humanitarian causes. But why the grand gestures?
It’s the human connection that counts. At least it does for me.
Simple is often the way and you can help anyone in need. And this isn’t hard to understand because quite often children show it and demonstrate it.
Does getting older make you more circumspect? Does it make you wiser? I guess I’d like to be remembered for ‘me’ whatever that entails while any legacy is increasingly unlikely.
‘He came, he went and one nanosecond later is forgotten’
Or Percy Shelley..
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.