Storms

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Two weeks from the equinox, and walking the dog down leaf swept sombre lanes, I can barely stand as I turn the corner on the way home from the dairy. I love autumn. It has a therapeutic, healing quality, perhaps drawn from its sense of being the home straight – nature’s last burst of housework before a well earned rest – the washing and airing of summer worn hedgerows.
It seems though, that the world and his weatherman don’t acknowledge this preference. Wet weather is ‘bad’ and dry weather is ‘good’ – regardless of how much we need the rain. Winds and showers ‘clear up’ and ‘should be gone by’. It is expected that we should love summer.
What if we don’t love summer?
Oh, this is interesting too. It is expected, that we should want the same things. We all want a 52” plasma tv, apparently, and designer trainers, and rising house prices.
I don’t want any of those things. Hmmm. I don’t like TV much at all, and I dislike anything that sits as big as an extra person in a room and demands equal or greater attention. I don’t like trainers much and when I wear them, I am unbothered by their brand – except in that I would like them not to have caused suffering to anyone. I can’t afford to buy a house, and although I would like to be able to buy land and build a house, I would then not need it to go up – just stay up.
After the recent riots, it has been affirmed that the problem is, there is a sector of society which feels unable to obtain the same things as everyone else. Obviously, they want the same things, and they need to be helped to get them. They are frustrated by their inability to obtain all those things which we all, obviously want. Exactly the same.
Maybe that’s true. But what about those people who just don’t want the same things, yet are constantly judged, graded, remarked upon and generally patronised as if they do? What if the biggest frustration is not, not having Nike and positive equity, but not flipping well wanting either.
Instead of making it possible for us all to be more alike, maybe we should try harder to allow each other to be different.
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