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(By contention I mean argument/debate, not whether we're in with a chance of the play-offs).
Last night I was reflecting on the highly charged discussion in the Trump/Zelensky thread, and considering just how polarised opinions are there. And what is surely clear to anyone reading it, is that no matter how 'right' someone thinks they are, there is someone else who thinks they are 'wrong', and that they are 'right'. But in reality, none of us are 'right' and none of us are 'wrong', all we have are our individual perceptions (and our opinions based on those perceptions).
Yet look how heated that discussion is: people fronting up to each other about how 'right' they are, how 'wrong' the other is. Swearing at each other, accusing the 'other' of being a [insert your favourite insult]. We all clearly think our opinion is the right one (and I'm as guilty as anyone else on this), and some of us are apparently so attached to being 'right' that we are willing to fight the other person over it. The anger in that thread is tangible. Yet none of us really have a clue about what's really going on, we just have our particular perceptions.
It reminds me of religion (or for that matter, football), where the advocate of any particular religion - the 'true believer' - knows that they are right, and the other is wrong. But how do we form these perceptions? And why are they so fixed? So fixed in fact, that people will go to war over them. Why are we so determined that we must be 'right'?
Not wanting to go too deep here, but surely it's that little thing called 'ego'? Our egos are functional aspects of our personality that are designed to protect us. They are pretty fundamental to our sense of self, our identity, and they are hard-wired into the primal fight or flight mechanism. Hence, when someone disagrees with us, on a subconscious level at least, we feel under attack. And therefore we must defend ourselves.
But the thing is, we are all capable of rising above this, if we are prepared to let go of having to be right. Speaking personally, if I let go of having to be right, it allows me listen to the other who I think is wrong, and often I will realise that they have just as valid a point as I do.
I suppose a key question here is, is there an actual, objective truth? Is there an incontrovertible right and wrong? I don't think there is. I think we all live in our own stories, we all create narratives about our lives and our identities. And between us, we create the reality, the society, the world we live in. Or at least, we create the narrative that we relate to.
So, if in truth, none of us are right, and none of us are wrong, yet many of us don't like the way the world is, what can we do about it? Well, the standard way, it seems, is to fight about it! Or, of course, to argue, to debate, to attempt to find consensus. But that doesn't really seem to work that well. How many of us have changed our minds about something from reading different opinions?
The point I am trying to get to is this: in the words of the song that Michael Jackson sang (but didn't write): if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change.
I don't believe we can ever truly change the world by the actions we take outside of ourselves, ultimately, the only way change happens comes from within. And this can be tangibly proved. There is a saying: what you focus on expands. For example, if you only focus on things that are 'wrong' with the world, things that trigger you, things that make you angry, then you will see that more and more in the world, it will become your reality. But I have noticed that when I focus on things that are good in my world, when I am grateful, when I appreciate the wonder, the miracle of being alive, then that becomes my reality. Events flow differently - or rather - I am attracted to (and attract) those things into my sphere of existence. In fact one of the great revelations of quantum physics is that our thoughts do actually influence our reality, and therefore we can alter our reality by changing how we think. Yet my ego will often pull me back into the world of having to be right. I suppose I like the cut and thrust of it. I like being 'right'. But does it serve me? Not really.
Anyway, I've waffled on far too long about this. You all know the old adage about opinions, and clearly all of us on this forum, at the end of the day, are just a bunch of arseholes.
In memory of my grandfathers and grandmothers who served in WW1, my uncles and and grandfather who served in WW2 and all of those who served and gave their lives to protect the freedom of this country. From the bottom of my heart: thank you.
I just saw this previously unpublished Laurie Lee poem in an email from Penguin books, thought I'd share it, because I think it's beautiful:
Ah Well
Ah well, I think, even the chestnuts are breaking, there is a soft down upon the cry of birds, and they slip covertly, with intent gentleness, among the bushes; life is full in the green ear and brilliant with chance, what of the mere grain blown out and forgotten, rotting or ripening in a shroud of grass?
Feels like this came almost out of nowhere, but apparently he's been hotly tipped to break through. Now he has. Amazing tennis, powerful and graceful. The girls are gonna go wild for him.... and all other denominations, of course.
It's the height of summer. Usually there are loads of insects buzzing around, especially flies. Right now, in the corner of West London, there are none.
"Last season saw the highest overall attendance at Championship matches since records began more than 130 years ago.
More than 12 million people purchased tickets to second-tier games in 2023-24 - an increase of 22% on the previous season, the English Football League said.
The figure is higher than Germany's Bundesliga, Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A, making the Championship the second highest-attended league in Europe, behind the Premier League."
I'm sure like me, many of you have relatives who were involved in some way with D-Day.
My Uncle John was a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, in command of Motor Launch ML 205 that landed on Juno beach on D-Day. Sadly he died four years ago, he would have been 101 this year. He was awarded the Legion D'honneur for his role. I feel very proud of him, and all those who served, to give us the freedom that we enjoy today.
Edit: I've just found an email from him where he explains his role more fully:
"I was on the bridge directing one of the columns towards its allocated beach. Our MLs were known as Directional Leaders as we had been fitted with very secret radars which could pin-point our position in the English Channel very precisely.
A couple of weeks after the landings I was ordered back to UK to begin extensive training for what was then a record distance for such small boats - over 8000 miles for the invasion of Rangoon, Burma then in the hands of the Japanese. We had to have extra fuel tanks bolted to the upper deck, which then had to removed when we got to the nearest Indian port not in the hands of the enemy."
I saw that Chris Cross, the Ultravox guitarist who wrote their massive hit 'Vienna' died in March. Which is a clunky segue into the fact that I will be visiting this fair city in a couple of weeks.
I've never been before, so I thought I'd ask the incredibly knowledgable LFW collective for any recommendations as to places to visit and things to do..... Less obvious, quirky ideas and tips are welcome!!
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