50th birthday blog

50 years older is…

When you are no longer the fastest walking to and from the station
When it comes to the end of the week and all you want is a couple of pints
When a pension suddenly seems important
When a quiet pub is cosier than a noisy one
When you need solitude for sanity
When a motorbike on the open road is like victory coursing through your veins
When over three hundred miles of pedalling is challenge enough
When live theatre feels like jumping from a plane
When you can just about bear to stand on the up escalator
When connections between everything in this world and out of it seem so much more real
When even ordering a bacon sandwich feels like taking a risk
When a Pelican crossing seems like a good idea
When God his Spirit, his Son and his disciples may have something going for them
When in the end you know Buddha was right
When you find yourself wondering who first put the liquorice in tubes of powdered sherbert?
…and then, out of the blue, my lover brings one home to me.

***
A few weeks ago I was moved by an editorial to The Environmentalist magazine, by the editor Ruth Lunn. It was entitled ‘We all feel the loss – why biodiversity matters.’ In it she described the commercial pressures which seem to be overcoming calls for the preservation of many species the world over. She mentioned that ‘ Natural England’s first ever audit of all of England’s lost and declining native species identifies nearly 500 animals and plants that have become extinct in England – practically all within the past two centuries.’

She goes on to illustrate more losses and says ‘Diversity in life is to be cherished purely for its own sake; but it also continues to give rise to new medicines to treat cancer and other diseases, and the full panoply of species on the planet are involved in providing our ecosystem services, from regulating the climate purifying water and air, to decomposition and recycling of dead matter. Everything on our planet is connected in innumerable ways and we need to preserve every link in these wonderfully complex chains.’

For me that says so much of the anguish I’ve felt as a kid and since, at the global destruction of habitats and species of all kinds of creatures. Among other things it lead to my personal brand ‘Making Connections Matter. And I think that this ceaseless eroding of nature has an impact on our minds, or at least our hearts. We all share in the global spirit of life, and we are so much the less for its demise. 

How much can we influence, how much can we change? For me, I’ve relied on the work of the charities and pressure groups that give my concern a voice. In the same way that Rethink enables us to speak up for the care of the troubled mind.

50 years! May all your years be happy and see so much change for the better…