The early night

It’s funny how the body develops protective calluses over inflamed and sensitive wounds.   Similarly, psychologically we also protect ourselves from unpleasant sights and sounds by a system of shifting the minds scenery as it were, to develop our own more comforting scenario and come  to terms with whatever it is that could disturb us.

Looking out of the window its a dark winters evening, the trees gaunt against the sky, the rain swooping between the house with a sound like a malicious whisper. Inside we are warm and well fed, the central heating is set at 20 and the lights on Christmas tree send out a warm message to the people wrapped up on their way to the shop or pub.    

There are many ways that a society constructs its habits to suit the surroundings and cope. The further North we go into Scandinavia or, the wider Russian landscape, we find the people taut, serious, and more intense and of course this reflects the landscape surrounding them.    They were known for their heavy drinking and conversely the value put on the society which they form a part.    Communism and Socialism are inherently possible because of the trials and tribulations that these people suffer in the normal way they are forced to live their lives.

From the idealism of Lenin, to the brutality of Stalin. From the corruption of the modern Russian state with its flirtation with capitalism, to the emergence of a morally corrupt society, from the very top, through the oligarchs to the con artists that now run what is called Russian society? This is one example. The other is the overarching social umbrella set out in Sweden,Norway and Denmark, -  laced with booze they concern themselves unendingly with each other!! 

As the temperature and the surrounding landscape soften, the ties between people loosen.     

We are each surrounded by good and bad.    In a way, they complement each other by balancing the acceptable and the unacceptable by colouring everything grey, making the contrasts less harsh.       We balance our mental equilibrium by sifting the “real events” which happen around us,   -  we compromise!!

I love Radio 4 and the BBC as a broadcast medium.  The “quality newspapers” offer an insight to what we think we should know.  The scale of the place means that, in general we are not exposed in the way that one can be, in less mature societies. Living here can be like sitting through a classical recital, not a rock concert!!       

Of course we have the best of both, not 30miles away!!

Yet the exciting “edge” is missing, the risk, the exposure to danger that feeds the body’s chemistry and puts us on a different level, like being in love for the first time.    Remember when we were young, the uncertainty of each day as it unfurled. Remember the anticipation of a new restaurant or a date, the fun of a bunch of friends hanging out together, a trip to a new country and a new adventure unwinding!!

Old age and the search for security now capture so much of our innate energy and ties us to a life of inactivity and the proverbial, “early night”!!  

Happy New Year to you all.