Day 7 ramblings: Rob Bell, Nick Cuthbert and 458 Italias

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Day 8 ramblings: Rob Bell, Nick Cuthbert and 458 Italias

Before I write the real Day 7 Blog, I've written some thoughts and ramblings. Joe thinks you'll not be interested. Andrea thinks you will. So, if you're nearer to Joe's age, then skip to the next Bog, if you're old like me you might find some resonance. Gray

Travelling through different countries gives lots of time for reflection. First there’s having left all the stress and business behind, then there’s lots of time just to sit and watch and inevitably the comparisons start.

Compared to the Argentina I first experienced more than 22 years ago there have been some major changes, some would say development.

The whole feel of the place is very different. In many ways it feels like a European country with the infrastructure, factories and road systems. You notice a big contrast as soon as you come over the border from Bolivia. The police (men and women) are courteous and don’t seem to want anything from you, which is very pleasant. Then there are the road signs…hundreds of them. Telling you to slow down, speed up, road narrows ahead, road widening ahead, bend coming (when there’s hardly a bend there) and major major bend coming when there is something to slow down for.

So on the one hand, the officials who are courteous seems a positive development, but the side of the road littered with signage seems a step back in development: It doesn’t seem to promote safety as all the signs are such a distraction that it’s difficult to devote 100% of concentration on the job in hand and the signs don’t seem to encourage thinking…they seem to encourage not thinking and letting the “government” think for you.

I’m going off on one…., but it does serve as an example for a discussion that we increasingly find ourselves having: what really is development?

We all strive for more in our lives. I think it’s a basic human thing that we seek to develop and better ourselves with our amazing creativity. It just strikes me that sometimes we’ve lost sight of how to use our creativity for the benefit of our communities as a whole. On the surface having more of things seems a good aim. It makes our lives more comfortable and makes us feel satisfied that we’ve got something to show for the hard hours we’ve worked. I mean only a few decades ago all that hard work would do very little more than put food on the table. If you’re reading this your hard work does so much more than put food on the table.

After 10 years in Bolivia whenever I travel up into the mountains where there is very little of anything that gets called development I can’t help but feel a pang of envy for the straightforward life those people lead. They get up, go to work in the fields or tending their animals and come home. The pace is easy and there’s all the time in the world to just be together, all day surrounded by the kind of beauty that most of us only see in films or magazines, or that we work all year to go on our annual holiday to experience. They suffer illness and malnutrition that the rest of us never experience. And that I suppose is where “development” scores a point or two.

On the other hand, when there’s a global financial meltdown going on or if there was a nuclear war, the people in the mountains wouldn’t even bat an eyelid…they’d just keep on doing what they’ve always done. Hmmm

Whenever I visit a Bolivian community in the mountains they stop what they’re doing, kill their best chicken and prepare a fantastic meal. The rest of the day or weekend will be spent together. Sometimes there’s no conversation, but the sense of value in being together is strong.

In our “developed” societies we have to make appointments to even spend a few hours together before rushing onto the next things to do.

Have we gone off on a tangent with our development? I think it was Nick Cuthbert who first sowed the seeds of discontent into my life about the direction of development in the world and that was 20 years ago. And still I wrestle with the issues. Rob Bell compounds it by suggesting that the idea of heaven being a place that we float around on clouds in some sort of high mental state as perhaps being pie in the sky. More realistic, he suggests, is that take all the best things about the earth around us (fresh air, mountains, beaches, sky, nature, having time for each other) and perhaps that’s a more realistic view of heaven? Ring any bells with the mountain dwellers? Hmmm

And here I am. Sitting half way down an extremely beautiful continent, communicating with anyone who cares to be interested via some very hi-tech thing perched on my lap. I’ve got here by some amazing feats of human creativity and ingenuity which forms much of my passion and interest in life.

There’s a tension. John Corrie would have called it a “Creative Tension”. As long as it’s that I’m happy; a tension that promotes creativity and makes us think more about getting better. When I feel it’s a “Destructive Tension” I feel uncomfortable.

How can I get that 458 Italia? Will I be happy? Will I be content? Would it only make me feel happy because others wish they had one? What about when the next one comes? Would the money be more creatively spent working out how as friends we could have more time together?

Gray

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Comments

[boyzee]

good one
I am working with some high level highway maintenance people here to reduce the street furniture before your return . Frankly , they don't know what they've got coming to them .... good thoughts Gray, well written.Ellie and I watched the Top Gear Boliva trip again last night - thought of you all.Mx

[Parkers on Tour 2012 2013]

It made me smile
Boyzee, it made me smile to hear from you and to think of you with all that red tape! Would have been good to have you with us on this trip, but we had a good trip to Toro Toro. Gray