Even as i approach the more senior years of my time here, i ask this question on a regular basis, pretty much every time i do something. I think when you are younger you’re more gung ho and devil may care, where as in your later years (especially in my case) you start to question yourself a lot more.
When age is challenging you, you tend to look back and think “I wish I’d done this or that differently” but hind site is a wonderful thing for bringing on guilt.
I think the best way to deal with it is this, life is for learning, you have to do something wrong to learn how to do it right. Don’t beat yourself up over how you have run your life, if you’ve been good to those you love and to people in general you haven’t done much wrong.
Just enjoy life and carry on making mistakes, that way you are still learning. No regrets.
Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?
Anyone who reads anything on this site will know I am a glass half full kind of guy, most of the time.
Do I think about the future? I plan like most people and that’s about it, I don’t really dwell on the future as i kind of have a tomorrow never comes attitude. I’ve developed a live for today way of life because too much sorrow and heartbreak has hit me in the past, and what you have today, may well be taken from you tomorrow, so take what you have now and cherish and appreciate whatever that may be, as the future is a thief that steals everything of importance from you.
Do I think about the past? Again, I try not to dwell on it but when you are a fan of most things “antique” it’s hard. Fantastic memories and people you have met along the way, why would you not reminisce on how they have shaped your life. If you have loved, it’s built on what has happened in the past and determines how you feel about that relationship in the present.
So in summary I am a thinker of the past and present. Life is a precious gift, what’s the point of worrying yourself about the future, we all know what the outcome is. Enjoy what you have had and what you have at this moment. That’s all that matters.
Now don’t get me all wrong, I’m not demanding that my life be extended, all I am saying is the best gift you could give me is your time.
A simple, “How are you?” A “Good morning” or even a smile, it sets a scene, we don’t have to rush, let’s talk a while but it rarely occurs. Probably the only person you speak to in the morning is the barista, when you give them your name to put on your coffee cup on the way to work.
Society has changed to the extent that we hold everyone in suspicion, we don’t trust anyone, not for any particular reason apart from society dictating that we should all be suspicious of one another. It’s just ingrained into society right now.
What Gift? Speak to anyone who knows me and you will see that I’m a person that likes gifts that have had thought go into them. I do not need items of materialistic value, you could just as well pass me an old battered book or a pair of socks, of no particular monetary value, if they mean something to me I will cherish them.
And that is where time is important. We all have an undefined amount available to us, it costs nothing to give it, and it has a value that is priceless.
Give your time, and you will be rewarded equally, it’s so simplistic that it’s crazy. If only society would sit up and pay attention.
Well I’m not going to spill the beans on my actual places of learning, that’s just plain rude WP. Does anyone else notice a daily prompt structure on this platform that possibly assists scammers and questionable persons regarding an easy way to obtain details about you? No? I must be alone on that thought process then.
Anyway.
Boring answer is I’m a fully paid up member of the college of life. There’s no time off, no years out, it’s a constant stream of learning, experiencing, and getting things done.
The only college that, emotionally drains you, exhilarates you and makes you judge and value your existence and why the hell you are even here. It’s brutal.
That’s life.
Keep learning, for instance, don’t tell WP everything.
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
Playtime. Without venturing back to my childhood days, that have disappeared into the ether of long forgotten days of fun and frivolities, playtime for me takes on a different meaning from what it did back then.
Yes I have a fascination for old retro toys of childhood that I buy, fix and then restore, however the play element has long disappeared to be replaced by fascination of how things have progressed in that relatively short period of time. The play things of my childhood are now being referred to as antiquities and I guess that also means i to, am starting to fall into that category.
The great majority of my life is consumed by work. So for me “Playtime” as such is anything that falls outside of the work category. As I have aged “Playtime” is not the singular activity it was in childhood, it now is an all encompassing activity that involves everything from rest, hobbies, family life, personal time, education and enjoyment.
I don’t “Play” as much as I’d like due to the way my workload pretty much consumes my whole existence, hence I’m looking forward to the time when that “Play” element consumes the workload – retirement. And I’m probably looking towards that occurring in the next 3-5 years, maybe sooner if a small lottery win arises.
Back in September 2024 I wrote this post about pinch Pottery: Pinch pottery
It’s been a few months and I’ve just decided to finish it off and give it some bright colouring and a sealant coat or two. I want it to represent a bright sun if I can, but when I get to actually paint it, it could well turn out looking totally different. Here we go.
This is one of those things I think my wife dislikes but she knows it means a lot to me, even though it is a poor quality and there are probably kids of 5 or 6 years of age that could produce something a lot better. But I made it, it was made at a time when I was grieving and gave me a lot of pleasure. It still does and this will probably remain in my workshop when I eventually get it up and running. It makes me smile when I look at it and i love it. It’s simple, it’s how life should be.
This is how it originally looked:
AlfReminder
I started painting the base Yellow, and the inside Orange, with the dog done in white with a black outline. This is what I have so far.
Just started to paint.
I’m using acrylic paints here. I’m going to put a line of vine type effects around where the yellow joins the orange. At the moment I’m letting the piece dry for the next 24hrs and then I will try some touching up and repainting what I have already done. The yellow coat is quite dull as it is being absorbed quite literally into the clay base. I’m kind of hoping that the next coat will not be absorbed so much, fingers crossed.
Multicoloured madness
I’ve gone with a yellow scheme for the underneath and a red – orange on the inside. I’ve tried the same type of painting that you find on narrowboats on Uk Canals, when they paint the buckets and metalwork with flowers. I’ve used this effect around the rim and from one angle it looks like he is looking over a hedgerow. It’s exceptionally basic, but it’s brightened up a piece of pottery that would otherwise sit in the corner unnoticed, discarded and unloved. You can’t miss this now, it just stands out.
First coat of lacquerFast drying enamel clear coat lacquer
The final task is to give a nice coat of lacquer to protect the acrylic paint. I’m going to use some fast drying lacquer that I have sitting in the shed at home. About two coats will be sufficient.
Before and after
Side decorations
I’m pleased with the outcome, it’s made me happy, and I smile whenever I see it. It’s kept me occupied and busy, It’s special to me and that is all that matters. It’s adult pottering and nonsense at its best. But it’s my nonsense.
You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?
Illustration by Maurice Sendak in Open House for Butterflies by Ruth Krauss.
One of those questions that you give little thought to. However for me peace and quiet and tranquility reigns supreme.
Not just for reading a writing but for all my hobbies, all I ask for is some peace to be with my own thoughts and no rushing, peaceful all the way. I may also like to have a radio on, turned down low in the background just to hum along to,
Melton brook – Melton Mowbray
A little cottage with a separate annex by a slow babbling brook would be ideal. However I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon, but one can dream can’t they? So in the ideal world it’s down to the river every time to seek inspiration and mental stability for me.
Personally my biggest influences amount to no more than a few people and one profession. Let me explain.
My Mother, she went through absolute hell in a marriage where she was beaten, abused and used like a carpet. I did my best as a child to protect her and like to think I did that well. She was still being abused well into her Seventies by a horrible jealous man who masqueraded as a husband. I dislike that man, as I have previously stated in a previous post I am unable to hate, I feel sorry for him and I’m sure he received his judgement when he passed over. At least I hope he did. Mother taught me patience and kindness, i absolutely love and adore my mother, and this week was the 20th anniversary of her passing.
My wife. She has this year kept the family together, she has saved a friend from harm. She has rescued that friend from the precipice, cared for her, seen she gets helped and spoken with her four or five times on a daily basis until that friend has been repaired, and brought herself back to a place where she is happy. My wife continues to impress me and make me so proud as she is a wonderful, beautiful soul that I believe was put on this earth to help people. She was unable to be a mother, something she would have truly excelled in, but she treats every child as her own and has beautiful relationships with youngsters, she guides and protects, she really should have wings on her back as I’m sure she was put here to serve that purpose. I am so proud of her and I know I have been gifted her presence for a short while, and I so appreciate that, I am a very fortunate person. And I so love her.
Anyone who teaches. You are very special and underrated individuals who deserve so much. I was most fortunate to meet the most influential man in my life who was a teacher : My Primary school teacher. Anyone that teaches deserves the utmost praise and respect, it is these unselfish individuals that shape this world and shape individuals into respectable members of society. You make the people who will go forward and shape this world. You make the world a better place. Anyone who just offers good advice and comfort to someone should pat themselves on the back.
We all have a role in society, we can all influence someone.
Have a peaceful day, have a wonderful holiday period no matter what your faith is or where your beliefs lay. Be that better person. Peace.
My birthday year was special because I was born. I’m not being big headed, I actually won the lottery that day.
Well I didn’t win the actually “money” lottery, so you can stop thinking about the begging letters, however anyone born prior, during or since are all in fact lottery winners and your prize is life. (Like it or not.)
Yes your chances of winning the top prize in the Uk National lottery are a whopping 1 in 45,057,474 (source National Lottery)
Prior to being born your parents entered into a lottery arrangement (Polite way of saying what occurred) and your odds of being born are allegedly an eye watering 1 in 400 Trillion . Just let that sink in for a moment. You really have won the lottery of life.
As I said, like every big winner there are things you will like and dislike about you fortune, but you have been afforded probably the most precious gift of all.
Life.
So there is the saying that someone is one in a million, next time you are told that, stop that someone in their tracks and say. “ Hold on there, I’m actually 1 in 400 Trillion.”
We are all very special, on this little planet of Lottery winners.
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