I was thinking of what I would like to write about for ‘yesanotherblog’ and a number of themes/topics popped up in my mind: poetry (& me), film(making) (&me), picture making (& me), music (&me). The ‘&me’ angle is designed to personalize the writing – making it less an objective statement and more a subjective expression.
I hope to explore all the above-mentioned topics in the time ahead. They are all of importance to me, and writing involves a process of reflection, a process of processing thought – sometimes resulting in a more expansive understanding of what I am thinking about. Conversation can also achieve this.
What concerns me in this blog entry is ‘moaning’. I could also call it grumbling and complaining. For example, today it’s very hot (over 30 degree celcius). I like the warm weather that comes with summer. It intensifies the growth of Nature – flowers have been bursting with colour and life, the trees have gone from a bit of green to magnificent green leaf covered summer glory. In the words I choose it’s clear I rate this development highly – it please my eyes and on summer walks the leaf laden branches of trees offer welcome shade.
The hot weather means a marked increase in outdoor activity. Groups of people barbecuing, having impromptu sessions in the evening with bottles of alcohol and food. Ideally the aftermath of the fun time would include a responsible collection of the rubbish and leaving the outdoor gathering spots in the same state they were found in. Sadly this isn’t always the case.
The hot temperatures can create a listlessness, diminished energy levels, sweat and smelly armpits. The ‘hot and bothered’ syndrome assumes its rightful place in this season.
We could compile a long list of negatives, specific to summer and the higher temperatures.
We could spend a fair amount of time moaning, grumbling, and complaining about all these negatives.
Personally, I prefer not to. I find moaning tends to degenerate into an uncontrolled and uncontrollable negativity. One moan leads to the next and to the next and before you know it, you’re in a forest of the stuff. You can’t see the wood for the trees.
You end up taking a picture on your phone of the rubbish the assholes left behind and you post this on social media with a little rant about assholes leaving behind their rubbish.
As I write this I become aware of the irony of moaning about the moaners. I ask myself why bother and to a degree that question is right. I think of the young rabbit in the film Bambi (1942) . His name is Thumper and his mother admonishes him when he says something negative about something – and he is forced by his mother to recall what his father told him:
“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”
I do believe in the value of criticism – there is a need to reflect on things and not take everything that happens in an unbroken, endless non-critical, non-reflective state. Civil protest has, historically, always been important. Not accepting things as they are is a form of moaning. I wouldn’t knock that per se.
I’m now struggling with this topic because having defined the negative aspect of moaning, having also described the positive nature of moaning – I ask myself what was the impulse to write about moaning? And again, I find myself ensnared in the shackles of grumbling.
Digging into my thought banks I come across that beautiful Monty Python (Life of Brian) song ‘Always look on the bright side of things’. If you don’t know it and are interested in the topic of moaning – check it out.
I wonder what you think about moaning?
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