It's 11am on a Thurs morning and I’m sitting here eating scrambled eggs with a cup of coffee. Not a bad start to the day (although I have already dashed out to Goodwill and another second hand shop for a pair of black trousers for work tonight). It's cold outside and every tree seems to be brown and red now. Leaves are everywhere and winter is hiding just around the corner. Autumn is always a season of change and lately I have been thinking more and more about that very concept.
A few nights ago I was watching Madmen (yes the addictive show I keep mentioning), and one of the actors noted that change is always good. I kept wondering if change really is for the better.
Every week something seems to change for better or worse. Facebook for example seems to change its layout all the time. Not a big change in a technology driven world but then I always wonder why fix something if it isn't broken? TV shows that seem to always be good seem to then go in a new direction and get rid of some of the best stars? Again, not a big deal.
My hometown, Southend-On-Sea, has seen dramatic changes since I moved there roundabout 1993-94. Like most towns in the UK, Southend has gone through a rejuvenation project which included a University being installed (just after I left college), major housing developments, the opening of new nightclubs and bars while shutting down the old classic ones (Chameleon anyone?) and a major shopping center. This type of change, trying to keep up with the 21st century is of course good. You don't want to look like a town still living in the 70's.
Just the other day I was talking to a friend from my University (in Derby), and we was talking about 1st year which for us was 2007. Not three years have passed and even Derby is a different place. What once was the epic nightclub Zanzibar and the alternative clubs Bluenote and Mosh are now either closed or turned into commercial places. The town is forever under development for housing or digging up the road and it seems that if you close your eyes for 5 minutes, you will open them to a new place you don't recognise. Even my life here in Indy seems very different to the one I used to have last year.
All these changes make me realise I am getting older and that you can't stop the change around you or even inside of you. Problems that I faced at 18 or 20 or even 22 seem very irrelevant now.
This brings me onto the newest book I am reading which I got for my birthday. Having read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, I am now reading Stones into Schools (which starts where Three Cups of Tea ended). If anyone has read the first book they will know how good it is and the changes that one man makes to the lives of thousands of Pakistani children. The second book is about this one man trying to build schools in the most Northern part of Afghanistan. The tribal areas that Greg Mortenson is trying to reach with education is one of the most remote and cut off places on Earth and for change there, it happens over decades, even half centuries. Seeing a new facebook can be annoying for me for about 5mins yet trying to change a countries extremist views on education for women is probably incomprehendable. This kind of change is good. It's more than good, it's a miracle.
Change is hard for some people and sometimes I get sad that my favourite playground as a kid has been turned into a block of apartments or my favourite singer has died or the place where I had the best time with my friends during college or university is no longer there. I have to remind myself that for better or worse, the times are changing.
A few nights ago I was watching Madmen (yes the addictive show I keep mentioning), and one of the actors noted that change is always good. I kept wondering if change really is for the better.
Every week something seems to change for better or worse. Facebook for example seems to change its layout all the time. Not a big change in a technology driven world but then I always wonder why fix something if it isn't broken? TV shows that seem to always be good seem to then go in a new direction and get rid of some of the best stars? Again, not a big deal.
My hometown, Southend-On-Sea, has seen dramatic changes since I moved there roundabout 1993-94. Like most towns in the UK, Southend has gone through a rejuvenation project which included a University being installed (just after I left college), major housing developments, the opening of new nightclubs and bars while shutting down the old classic ones (Chameleon anyone?) and a major shopping center. This type of change, trying to keep up with the 21st century is of course good. You don't want to look like a town still living in the 70's.
Just the other day I was talking to a friend from my University (in Derby), and we was talking about 1st year which for us was 2007. Not three years have passed and even Derby is a different place. What once was the epic nightclub Zanzibar and the alternative clubs Bluenote and Mosh are now either closed or turned into commercial places. The town is forever under development for housing or digging up the road and it seems that if you close your eyes for 5 minutes, you will open them to a new place you don't recognise. Even my life here in Indy seems very different to the one I used to have last year.
All these changes make me realise I am getting older and that you can't stop the change around you or even inside of you. Problems that I faced at 18 or 20 or even 22 seem very irrelevant now.
This brings me onto the newest book I am reading which I got for my birthday. Having read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, I am now reading Stones into Schools (which starts where Three Cups of Tea ended). If anyone has read the first book they will know how good it is and the changes that one man makes to the lives of thousands of Pakistani children. The second book is about this one man trying to build schools in the most Northern part of Afghanistan. The tribal areas that Greg Mortenson is trying to reach with education is one of the most remote and cut off places on Earth and for change there, it happens over decades, even half centuries. Seeing a new facebook can be annoying for me for about 5mins yet trying to change a countries extremist views on education for women is probably incomprehendable. This kind of change is good. It's more than good, it's a miracle.
Change is hard for some people and sometimes I get sad that my favourite playground as a kid has been turned into a block of apartments or my favourite singer has died or the place where I had the best time with my friends during college or university is no longer there. I have to remind myself that for better or worse, the times are changing.
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