Normal: standard, regular, ordinary, typical, customary, common, average, habitual, routine, conventional!
Of course by conforming within a society, we have evolved to have an habitual lifestyle. A sense of security from what we believe is “normal” but are we still able to open our minds to a new way of thinking? Surely we evolved by exploring, creating, making and building.
“Education”
I was dumbfounded to hear that a child did not know that a cow had to be pregnant to produce milk. This is a minor example in the grand scheme of life but maybe it is these little things that do matter. Milk is readily available in a variety of packaging and the source (cow) has been lost along the way. This is similar to everything else in the world. The produce, the raw ingredients have been forgotten about. Why do supermarkets sell perfectly shaped apples and potatoes with no soil! I hope children still know that potatoes are grown in the ground and not picked from a tree. Aesthetically pleasing potatoes is a mystery to me. Immediately you are presented with round and oval potatoes clean and white.
All potatoes should be sold with soil on them, our minds should be aware that this product we are about to buy comes from the earth. I hate supermarkets; I hate their culture, greed and over-packaged, genetically modified produce. I think Tesco will take over the world soon and we will all turn purple and have extra long limbs from all of the modifiers that go into the rubbish that we buy.
I understand the immediacy of supermarkets , online shopping, for example – very easy, especially for families, but your children are missing out!!! I used to love going to the supermarket with my mother and sister. We would use the trolleys as go-karts and hare around the isles chucking in every kind of chocolate and crisps we could see.
“Our minds should be aware that the product we are about to buy comes from the earth”
This may sound silly but in itself this is an education. Mother would say “no girls, put it all back”, of course after a while we did and we understood that we cannot have whatever we wanted. Also it was fun, I laughed with my sister; I would go as far as saying it was a mild form of exercise.
Perhaps this is the answer to obesity in Great Britain. More children should go to supermarkets and race around on trolleys. Instead they are sat at home, the doorbell rings and a Tesco delivery man is stood there with a van load full of your shopping. The children now have no idea of how much it cost or where it came from. Is this just “normal” now?
“Cities”
I must also admit that growing up in the countryside makes it more accessible to play outside, learn about nature and understand a more natural way of life. Cities are wonderful culturally and can often be a hub for creativity and the arts. However cities can also be a black mist of terror, violence and poverty.
It may be unsafe for your child to go out and play, therefore they are restricted to being inside with a computer game and a television. This I can see is a difficult situation to be in. Youth clubs and societies are great in theory but realistically a youth club is a breeding ground for a bunch of adolescents to collectively form into gangs resulting in drug abuse and violence.
Cities are wonderful culturally…but can also be a black mist of terror, violence and poverty
“Behaviour”
When I was in Sweden I was overwhelmed by the sophisticated persona of the general public. Of course, Swedes like to party and go clubbing but it is more relaxed, not ten Jaegerbombs in one sitting. They are into fitness and sport and generally the Swedes are a healthy looking bunch.
This year in Greece I started telling people I was from Sweden but moved to England as a child. Immediately their eyes would soften and they were more accepting to engage in conversation. If I simply said I am English it was like blasphemy! Then I realised why the English were not so liked.
As I walked the bar street in Kardamena, Kos, Greece I could not believe what I saw. It was a zoo of English drunks. Quite comedic at points but it was like some kind of movie where zombies all infect one another and create mass destruction. The people here were making each other worse and then it was “normal” to be sick in the road, lie down on the pavement and start fighting in the street.
“Paperwork”
There is always some form of paperwork to be filled in. I have hired my Mother as a full-time secretary! Even when I am away travelling, having a wonderful time trying to be free there are emails, reminders, bills and constant administration which really is not worth the paper it is written on!
Who keeps making all of these rules? I blame Big Brother reality television programme. I am sure Tony Blair watched it for the first time and realised how easy it was to control a room full of people. A real life puppet show! Simple if you think about it. Very easy to control a group of people, a city, a universe!!! Inflation, taxation and the media control us in a very worrying way.
“New culture”
I began windsurfing and skiing and found a new culture. I found a commonality in people which brought the very best out of them. I then thought maybe I should work at a surf school all summer and work the ski season all winter. Perfect, happy, nice humans on their holidays, it is a dream lifestyle. But even as I write this I feel a cloud of confirmative restraints saying, “No Natalie, how could you support a family, how would you have a pension”.
I hate these thoughts in my mind. I wish they would go away because the reality is if I did just live this life I could be a very happy person indeed. I would be fit as a fiddle, healthy, embracing new people every season. I would absorb the elements of the sea and beach with the contrast of the mountains and the snow. I may meet a wonderful life partner who shares my passion. Or I could stay in the UK and have a husband who works all the hours god sends and I am left to look after the children and prepare his supper!
The reality is if I did just live this life I could be a very happy person indeed
“Important”
We are not so important but for some reason our brains are computerised to believe we are superior to all. Of course our brains are unusual: we can adapt like chameleons and learn how to cure cancer. We can learn how to fly. We can do almost anything but only because the elements are there for us to use.
Lets revolt, let’s be creative, active, indulgent if you wish. There is so much to explore and experiment with. Learn a new sport, dance, laugh, and cry, get lost in a novel or let your mind run wild with dreams. To dream you must be a dreamer. Tap into senses you did not know you had. Enjoy a train journey opposed to starring into your iPhone at Facebook.
Lets revolt, lets be creative…Learn a new sport, dance, laugh, let your mind run wild with dreams
Maybe we are on the verge of a modern retake of the 70’s. Maybe we will all buy camper vans, get high on Marijuana and go back to simplicity.
Simplicity; ease, straightforwardness, effortless, minimalism.
