The world has grown weary, and lately I have been feeling weary about the world.
A song by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 sprang to mind this morning. My lifelong friend Lasse introduced me to this band at about the time the song came out – way back in 1994. Lasse and I and our friend Derrick went to see them at the Starfish Room in Vancouver when they were touring on the associated album, “Strangers from the Universe”. I love seeing bands in smaller venues, and TFUL282 (as they are more concisely known) were very thoughtful and interesting, jarring in some ways but they managed to tickle both the cerebrum and funny bone.
Obviously Mark Davies had some sober thoughts about the state of the world 28 years ago. I can only imagine what he thinks today. Maybe he was worried about CFCs, in which case he will be pleased that the Antarctic ozone hole just healed over for the first time in decades. Chin up, buddy!
As the year starts, I am trying to find a sense of optimism and hope in the midst of panicked realism. I am working to find the joy in each day and make a positive contribution, while not obsessing about larger forces beyond my direct control. Wish me luck…
Anyways, here is the song and you can hear it on YouTube. The simple instrumentation reminds me of the National Film Board productions of my Canadian childhood. Cue the rattlecrank of the old school projector and the bright flicker on the screen in the classroom.
Noble Experiment
By Mark Davies, Performed by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 on “Strangers from the Universe”
If the sadness of life makes you tired
And the failures of man make you sigh
You can look to the time soon arriving
When this noble experiment winds down and calls it a day
Time has come now to stop being human
Time to find a new creature to be
Be a fish or a weed or a sparrow
For the earth has grown tired and all of your time has expired
All the gardens are sprouting with flowers
All the treetops are bursting with birds
And the people all know that it’s over
They lay down all their airs and they hang up their tiresome words
You know Alistair I realized some time ago that my world weariness was connected primarily to two sources — the politicians and the media. I debated for sometime doing a major detachment from all the news, and decided while you should not bury your head in the sand neither should you bury your head in the s—t. I check in briefly for major news events but I’ve taken a big step away from social media as well as following the political news, mainly because of that helpless hopeless feeling of “what can I do“? I have returned to a sense of peace and happiness that had been missing for sometime – and my thought is at least if in my daily life I can spread some of that to others, maybe the ripple effect will be the difference I can make.
I have a picture frame on the wall in my bedroom and I look at it every night and every morning. It says “Life is not made of the number of breaths we take but of the moments that take our breath away”. The pictures I selected for the frame were just random from my photo albums, and I realized that randomness truly signified my life. Beloved animals, friends, family, joyful times in nature — that has been my life and it’s good to remember.
And at one particularly difficult time in my young life I feel I had reached my rock-bottom. What pulled me out of that time was finding “beauty moments“ — even if only for five minutes a day I stepped back and found some thing of beauty to admire it helped lift my spirits. Sitting outside in the dark of night, looking at the stars and listening to the quiet helped, and I wish for you many beauty moments this year. Plan on collecting that Indian lunch for me when you travel north again and I will work to make you laugh ☺️ – or at least smile.
Hi Nancy, thank you for all the thoughtful comments, and extending the piece in a very helpful way. Thankfully, outside of this (sadly too intermittent) blog, I avoid social media to a large degree. But I do consume too much news and “if it bleeds, it leads” so it is easy to come away with bad feelings. Yes, savouring the good things, the good people, the beauty in daily life is at least a partial antidote to distress. Thanks for the reminder and for sharing your hard-earned wisdom.
So apropos. We are weary. Our world is weary. We are all hoping for a return to the light.
OK, then – let’s both resolve not to give up!
Great words Alistair, wish I could commit them to memory but will refer to them occasionally by checking with ” Caring Curmudgeon “
Thanks Connie, I greatly appreciate your love of nature and wish you could share your perspective with those who have never enjoyed the pleasure of a dip of water from a cold northern lake.