After I last week finally managed to publish some of my thoughts on Frank Turner’s stunning song “Somewhere Inbetween” I had hoped that I would have cleared up some capacity in my mind to write about other stuff. I’m sorry to say that this isn’t quite the case. I still do have many many thoughts, most of them introspective though – many still brought on by the aforementioned song – and thus of no interest to a wider audience. I also do have ideas for longer posts or comments on various political / social issues. But right though I’m still shying away from putting those down on paper (so to speak), because I’m afraid that I still don’t know enough and haven’t considered all aspects and haven’t read all the information I need to form an opinion.
Often I also think that spending my time reading – weekly newspaper with more indepth analysis, articles on news sites, nonfiction on current issues – is more useful to me than sharing my thoughts online. So I don’t know.
I don’t have a lot of distinct thoughts yet on what happened at the Trump rally in Butler, Pa last night. I admit I feel a bit detached and void of any empathy for him, which scares me a little. Because yes, Trump is a dangerous and evil man and was and would be a horrible president. But he’s still a human being and I should feel some empathy for someone who survived an assassination attempt, right? This also calls for more introspection.
I’m worried though – of course – what this all will mean for the election campaigns and the future of the USA, but I don’t know enough about it all and thus won’t go into that here either.
The fun fair had been in my town recently and it’s a big deal for a lot of folks in my town. It’s part of the town’s tradition and rites and folklore and all that. People who have moved away come back for the weekend to visit the fair. Imagine all the people who ever graduated from highschool coming back together for one big reunion. But also running into and chatting and having a drink with all sorts of acquaintances from all parts of your life in a small town. People are very social and gregarious on that fair and the older I get the more I feel out of place when I’m there. I’ve never been that social or gregarious. And I’ve reached the point where I’m not sure I want to turn into a gregarious person for this occasion, because everybody else does. Stuck somewhere inbetween, eh?
Some other thing that turns me off from the fair more and more year after year is the consumerism aspect of it all. The super cheap plush toys or other (plastic) prizes at the lottery or the games or merchandise at the stalls: probably imported from Asia, thrown away after one use or a few days, because they fall apart or just quickly aren’t interesting / useful anymore.
I’ve been thinking / talking about the whole (societal / global) waste problem a bit more recently. The way we – as western society – these days so easily buy and throw away so much. How the round-the-clock availability of internet shops and the often free delivery has killed the high streets. The problems our waste causes in other parts of the world. I don’t have any solution. I try to be mindful of my own behaviour and live and shop more responsibly, but I’m only human and still experience the common human impulse of e.g. wanting to replace a broken gadget right away, because I need it. But do I really? More food for thought, I guess. My current particular “oh let’s replace the broken thing right away” impulse and the shame about acting on that, at least lead me to finally sell the Switch console I had bought during the first lockdown and hardly ever used in 2020 and not ever again after. Tiny steps.
This all sounds a bit bleak, right? There have been happy moments in my past few weeks as well. Yes, I might have had some introspective – “Do I really fit in here? Have I ever?” – Somewhere Inbetween – thoughts during the first one. This song will play a part in my life for a while, deal with it. But it’s been a lovely day regardless.
There’s also been a trip to the zoo, which is always fun,…
…and I still enjoy winding down by creating colourful random pieces of art? Is it art? What is art? I like doing it so what does it matter?
Another happy moment today: I made myself go for a run for the first time in about 6 weeks? And because I do have a problem with moderation I didn’t just go for the short 3K, but the 5K, which I haven’t done in a while.
The run went fine. Better than expected and that was marvellous.
And now I’m going to watch England bring “it” home. Fingers crossed at least.
