Just watched this fantastic documentary on Google Video (something I have recently discovered). A really brilliant program with lots of scope for thought. Some of the folks he interviewed were very interesting. I couldn't help thinking about my own position in life and comparing it to some of these people.
Some of you may remember I had some bad spells when I was about 17 and have always been a bit moody. And I have battled it as best I can. However, what he didn't really touch on is the connection between the physical and the mental, though there was a women eating a lot of oily fish and taking cod liver oil.
I think a lot of practical exercises can really help. A brisk walk really sorts a lot a things out.
My main point was though about many of these people were quite priveliged and most of them pursued very busy lives. For me, my reasons for coming to Thailand are varied but one reason was definitely about leaving the system and the eternal grind that envelopes the Western world. It exists massively here too, I hear you say, but taking teaching as a profession, where you are helping other people, and the relatively few hours we work and the long holidays we are granted really add up to having plenty of free time to relax and not stress about life. Also, Thai people, not Chinese I add, are by nature very relaxed and often only actually do what is necessary to sustain their life in relative comfort i.e. being full, being physically comfortable.
Stephen Fry was also going into shops buying multiple items of the same things he already had. He admits he has the money to do so, so it was really the rush of actually shopping. Here I am still contemplating buying an Ipod and wondering if I really need it.
So in the First World where many of these people have the resources to live a life where there is little concern for actually surviving, they look for a stimulus on another level.
And I often tell myself that in evolutionary terms we are in very unchartered waters in terms of living with all this technology and development. Even governments are relatively new and possibly the idiotic concept of ownership. So who knows what effect all this progress in society is really having on the ancient mind of the human being. Our external environment is changing much much faster than our internal environment. Therefore, like me, opting out and moving away from the centre sets me into a more serene and calmer setting to carry out my days. Whether this helps me not turn into a fruitcake or as mad as a box of frogs can never be answered, but I would suppose to think it has helped me to improve my life.
I often wonder about the human desire to be constantly busy and if it fuels itself in ever decreasing circles and if you are not doing something then there must be something wrong with you.
It is possible like the contary that I am, I may have deliberately yet subconsciously put myself at a disadvantage in terms of "bettering myself". Knowing that less is more can be viewed from many angles.
Anyway, I think what I am really saying is that I was a candidate to suffering from depression, perhaps I do, but through huge mental and physical exercises, have managed to pull ahead away from immediate threat. And I do believe that had I remained in UK the threat would be stronger than it is in Thailand. Things I like about Thailand and Thai people include the fact that as a race they are fairly simple beings. They like to talk, they like to be together, they talk about the immediate things around them (cost of eggs etc.), they seem to all have a built in book of remedies to apply when something negative happens, be it an upset tummy or a sudden rain shower. Things are more black and white here. This is good. This isn't. Don't drink more than two coffees a day. Don't stay alone for too long.
In the UK things to me seems far less defined. Folks were swilling countless cups of coffee without anyone saying its bad for you. I found many aspects of life in UK fell into the gray area where is was unclear what was considered good for you or bad for you. Possibly the fact that the role of women is a lot different in UK. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the pub and getting pissed and talking to women, friends or otherwise, but here in Thailand, good women won't set foot in a pub. There is a gray amount that do and it might give them a bit of a thrill, but the majority of women who go to pubs regularly in Thailand are prostitues and, in turn, thieves and generally not very pleasant people. Along with going into a pub would come a whole lot of other "bad" things they would also indulge in, and in effect, write themselves off as being a "bad person" and do everything expected of them. You may violently object to these comments but that is pretty much how it is over here. The Thai rules that define society are fairly nasty. Men are brutal and can basically do what they want and women are submissive and can only hope that the man in their life is a good one and be kind to them. The man will choose for himself. There are very good Thai men, but there are a lot of very bad men here too. A village elder who is allowed to rape young girls in the village and because he is an elder he can go unquestioned?
I divulge and will continue later...
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