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| Credit: Gary Andrews (@GaryScribbler) |
A friend recently remarked that I could
perhaps lose the “in Training” element from my GOM in Training sobriquet. It appears, he suggested, that I am now a fully
qualified grumpy old man. I think he has
a point. When reflecting on my most
recent posts, I have become increasingly outraged at the political and social climate
within which we live. I didn’t intend
for the GOMIT to become a political commentator; the plan was for something considerably
more frivolous and light-hearted.
If my friend is right, and my training is complete, I have
discovered that my chosen path is akin to a newly qualified doctor discovering
that he or she doesn’t like blood. I
don’t like to be grumpy. For a start,
it’s exhausting. Summoning the energy to
rail at the world exacts a toll on my preferred optimistic state, where I’m much
happier to exist.
Over the last week I’ve been quietly mulling what to do. I could continue to scream into the void at our
parlous world or revert to a more genteel form of moaning where daily trivialities,
such as the baffling appeal of Snapchat to teenagers, or the growing trend to have
jeans hover halfway down the wearer’s arse, assume a far greater magnitude than
they should warrant. These latter subjects
provide a much greater opportunity to moan in mystification than in outrage,
which is considerably better for mine, and everyone else’s wellbeing.
As well as the mainstream media, much of the grist to my GOM
mill derives from Twitter and other forms of social media, where it is possible
to find extremes of views which all too frequently lead to a competing vitriol,
where it is possible to witness the “good people on both sides” become
increasingly hostile toward one another and demonstrate the somewhat less
savoury sides to their nature. I cannot
be too critical; I am in no position to cast that first stone.
However, as poisonous as Twitter can be, it also has redemptive
voices; users who offer considerably healthier reading. Moving forward, I am likely to spend a little
more time following their tweets than the poison that spews forth from the
grubby little thumbs of @realDonaldTrump and others.
Tough
enough being at a new school without the extra burden of our circumstances -
but I do like Lily’s solution. Finding a laugh when things get uncomfortable.
It both breaks my heart that she has to go through this and makes it swell with
pride at her bravery. #doodleaday.
Nearly 55,000 of us get
to share Gary’s daily challenges and triumphs.
We are regularly treated to the unadulterated pride and love he has for
his children, but occasionally, he will share poignant moments too, where he opens
up to the grief he experiences following the death of his wife. He’s a hero.
So too is Lin Manuel
Miranda (@Lin_Manuel), probably best known as the creative genius behind the
musical ‘Hamilton’, who operates at a seemingly inexhaustible pace as he leaps
from project to project, whilst managing to tweet some wonderfully positive and
often esoteric tweets. One recently (https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1177691534742949893) read simply:
Gmorning.
There’s
a lot going on.
Take
all the time you need.
It’s advice we could
all do well to follow.
If you prefer your
positivity in a more surreal form, then I suggest following the watermelon
eating Thoughts of Dog (@dog_feelings). His
punctuation leaves a lot to be desired, but with 2.8 million followers, there
are a lot of grammatically tolerant people out there who are treated every few
days to a canine insight that will make you smile. Take this little pearl (https://twitter.com/dog_feelings/status/1158060297044844545)
i know there’s bad in the
world. and it would be silly. to pretend it isn’t there. but for now here’s my
leash. and a few licks on your hand. to convince you that one day. we will be
alright
Even if you don’t like dogs, it’s hard to argue that the
dog’s account has a much rosier outlook on life than a huge number of the Twitteratti.
There are other reasons for me to refocus. There are manuscripts that need some love and
a creative canon that deserves nurturing considerably more than my expressions
of anger. I’ll continue to follow the
maddening politics that dominate our culture and, no doubt, will periodically
spew forth with my unwanted opinions.
In the meantime, however, I’m going to add some life to no
one in particular, help a man restore a battered sloop and mull over a coach
load of folks on their way to Albuquerque.
Twitter: @GOMinTraining
Copyright © Craig Brown, 2019
4 October 2019
