Dear Pogue,

Did you enjoy the weekend? The sun shone and shone here so I max’d out time in the courtyard with a good book, a couple of coffees and as the sun slid into absence, a cheeky beer. In the evening, as I was home alone, I made hamburgers and watched football. I feel so much like a cliche now, beer, burger and football, so I’m writing from where I am in this time space continuum. I thought that would be a good starting point for a letter.

At the end of the day it would do us all good to stand still and take an honest 5 minutes looking at where we are. Maybe compare it with where we were last year or last week. Maybe compare it with where we dreamed about being. List our joys and disappointments. Would that list be top heavy and long enough to know exactly how we feel? Indeed, it could be painful because so many of us disappoint ourselves. Life poorly lived.

The biggest challenge of your life is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everyone else.

Anon

A personal wellbeing check can only be a good thing, can’t it, but despite the many blogs and website, the books and articles on improving one’s lot in life, I strongly suspect that very, very few ever really bother to do it.

Don’t you notice how many people share a view, embrace a trend, wear a fashion and if you ask them why they believe or embrace this they really don’t know. It’s not that they’re unintelligent. Many of them have degrees which I suppose is a mark of something approaching an ability to think things through. But they move through life within boundaries determined by the media, especially social media, the fashion industry, politicians and the group mentality of their peers.

I understand that in someways that makes life easy because so much is predetermined and there is a degree of comfort but what a waste! So much latent potential slipping into obscurity.

You weren’t born to just pay bills and die.

Anon

Yet that is what most people will do and by most I mean a huge percentage. Different societies have differing patterns but at their roots they are all basically the same. They hand out details of acceptable behaviours, expectations which are normally limited, rewards and myths about what non-conformity leads to. In one of the previous letters I wrote to you I used the example of Robert Persig and his thoughts on education which stand in contrast to the model we have been brought up on; education, further education, both interspersed with the need for evidenced achievement, and then employment. You’re employed so you should save for a house. You’ve been single for this long so shouldn’t you be thinking of settling down, i.e. finding a nice guy or girl to share life with? You’ve work all year so you can reward yourself with a holiday. You’ve been in your job this long so why aren’t you trying for advancement? Oh yes, you’ve been together so long shouldn’t you start a family?

Recognise any of this? It’s all there in society and the shame is, it is usually reinforced by our role models. Our parents, carers, teachers, etc.

We so need to help people, especially young people, to break the circle. To understand that they possess unique potential and gifts yet to be realised. That they should learn to dream. There’s power in dreaming because in that place we begin to see what we are capable of. We must help the dreamers to believe and the believers to act. And those who act will need support because so often they are not understood and when you’re not understood you end up isolated and then there is the possibility of being victimised. History is replete with dreamers and thinkers who stood apart from the crowd and then became the victims.

I love being with free thinking people. The conversations are random, full, and go on long into the night (often with good wine). They see and accept possibilities, and they do not feel the restraints so many others carry with them. Best of all, they are rarely judgemental in nature which can be so liberating.

It takes nothing to join the crowd,
It takes everything to stand alone.

Hans F. Hansen

At some point I’d like to continue this letter. I am going away to think about free spirits, dreamers and unrealised potential. If you have any thoughts I’m open and onboard. Wouldn’t it be something if we could set people free?

Yours, mastering my random thoughts,

Wic.