Are you scared a lot - or just plain angry? Maybe I'm just getting old . . . well, if truth be known there's no maybe about it. We all are - and as we do, the word 'nostalgia' begins to take on more flavour for some. 'Things were so much better in MY day.' How often have you heard that chestnut? What the hell is MY day anyway? Probably some nebulous fantasy land where good thoughts always prevail, just in time for the final curtain - and after all, it is the age old standard for good to emerge victorious over evil, eventually.
Sounds good. But it's not the experience of most. We constantly battle with the frailties of our being, and with the world itself. On the face of it, it appears the whole Universe is out to kill us. Mentally and spiritually to begin with - and then good old mother nature delivers the final coup de grace.
Meanwhile, we are encouraged from the corners of light to be happy in our journey down the river Styx, to battle against the force that the world in general throws in our faces on a minute by minute basis. Yet, I only have to view a television set for an hour, or look at a daily newspaper for a short time, before my spirits are being dampened by abject misery.
The conspiracy buffs argue it's orchestrated fear, the religious fundamentalists say it's 'The Last Days'. The atheists say it's random, or science, or whatever. The rest of us maybe try to ignore it. I was there on December 31st to sing 'Auld Lang Syne' with the best of them. I was perpetrator. I'm guilty, your honour. It was expected of me as a DJ to deliver on that Groundhog Day tradition. But somewhere in the dark cave of my conciousness I knew we'd all jump back on the treadmill soon enough; there would be crushing news to hear sooner or later. It was sooner. The terrible events in France over recent weeks have hit us all, reminding us all of the turbulent cauldron we live in. And it's only January.
And yet, there are plenty of good people around us. There are those who want to enhance other lives rather than destroy them. The sad thing is, we nourish the need to report the bad. 'It's important information,' we say. 'Everybody needs to keep informed'. I can agree with that - to an extent, and I do realise we have a choice whether to expose ourselves to negative media coverage or not. I know people who have chosen not to - and are much happier for it. Is it a case of plonking your head firmly in the sand - or choosing a different way? I for one couldn't watch a 24 hour news channel for more than half an hour without feeling myself sliding into depression - no, worse, despair.
Whether we are being manipulated into fear by a secret society or the illuminati is a question to be answered by those who are better informed. All I know is, too much bad news makes Jack more than dull. It makes him feel the need to see a shrink at his earliest convenience. My call is to try mostly to see the good in the world; not in some naive Pollyanna way, but in a controlled way that remains very aware of the troubles that challenge, but is not overwhelmed by them.
Sorry, have to go now. The TV news programme is about to start . . .
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