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So its three days now since I left my home in Cheltenham and drove the 3 hours back to Mums house. The start of my summer adventures.
I always dread leaving Cheltenham and heading back. There is always a slight reservation attached to making my way back to the family home. You remember that feeling you got as a child when you really didn’t want to do something!? Kicking and dragging your heels all the way.
I can’t say that the drive is necessarily an easy one, but straight forward none the less. The first part is the road to Oxford, such stunning views, each time I drive down it I wish I could stop and just look. Simple breath. Each corner you take another beautiful view emerges almost smirking at you, as it surely knows how peaceful and elegant each is, the next more than the last.
The rest of the drive is nothing special, the M40, M25 and finally the M11, each road just blending into the next. The monotonous pace occasionally broken by slip roads and exits, I simply listen to the radio enjoying the last peace I will get for two weeks.
Spending time with the family has been good, after all its a long while since i last visited. I find that we all quickly slip back into those old roles we used to have, mum constantly asking frustrating questions like, where are you going? or When will you be home?usually followed by the aged old statement from Dad make sure you home by ten o’clock dear. When i do brave staying in the ever predictable Turn that ****** racket down emerges from below the stairs. I am sure a few of you are familiar with that one.
So..back towards the point, what to do for the bank holiday weekend!? As i am sure you can image this was no easy decision, each member wanting to do something very different! Eventually Mum had the finally choice and so Audley End it was!
Can’t say it was my number one option, but was still an opportunity to get some different photos and lets face it – it kept mum quiet for the day. Any thing for an easy life!
After inspecting the reenactment of some battle, men all dressed in uniforms on horse back carrying strange weapons or beating drums, we headed in side to shelter from the good old british rain. Wondering around the large house, meandering around room after room, examining the lavish decor preserved for all to see it occurred to me, why are we all so obsessed with other peoples lives?
Society today pushes us to look at everyone else’s lives. So much in today’s world seeks to show us how other people live. Head lines such as Cole was told to lose two stone in magazines parade the life’s of so-called celebs and often not the best aspects. Soap operas capture us with dramatic story lines and films show us a life often we can only dream of. So called culture is not much better, museums showing us lives of those before us, exhibiting such a range of topics. Museums are often joining us in the twenty-first century. As the world advances they wish to show yesterdays history – find yourself in museum today and don’t be offended, it no longer means your dead. And all this is before we consider the 21st century hobby of “Facebook Stalking”.
So why are we so obsessed with other peoples lives? Are our own not good enough any more?
Escapism is one thought. The german philosopher Ernst Bloch indicated that perhaps those caught dreaming and engaging in images of utopia are possible starting the impetus for social change. Could this be the seeds of a new social humane? A modern-day solution to the revolution. By monitoring the lives of others we could be seeking the superior sections and subconsciously eradicating the less favoured.
Maybe this is not a modern-day fad, but something the human race has been doing for centuries. After all we have always thrived on the telling of stories. Did you not read Stig of the Dump as a child?
Couldn’t escapism just be our reality?
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anonymous
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Chris Mc Candless made a few mistakes
It was a good movie. Did you read the book? Much better. Loved his adventurous spirit. Can't wait to read more about your travels.