Christmas and supermarkets

                  October 8th - the first time I have noticed Christmas displays in a store.

This is an easy game. People write to the newspaper every year remarking on the early appearance of Christmas or Easter-related products. Not everyone is unhappy with this commercial distortion of traditional celebrations. One friend(OK, my wife - that's sort of a friend) told me that she likes hot cross buns so why shouldn't she have them when she feels like having them? Well obviously I can't argue with that, mainly because I am not religious, but I feel that I am losing some of the landmarks of my life.

It is as though the seasons no longer change. I once worked in a city where it was too warm for many deciduous trees to lose all their leaves in winter. Despite good job prospects I moved back to my cooler origins so that time did not become an unchanging season, even if I could no longer grow hibiscus and frangipani in my garden. If Christmas extends throughout the year it has lost its cultural as well as any religious significance.There is nothing to look forward to since it is already and always present.

But Christmas is just too commercially attractive. Every year it encourages celebration, more spending and greater profits, so it must be tempting to grab a little bit more of it, to start a little bit earlier; or to take some of its elements for use throughout the year. I shouldn't be surprised to see this since a supermarket is simply an enterprise for the purpose of making money, not a heritage organization for the preservation of our cultural history. And, as my wife makes clear, it can only act with the support of the public - who no longer live in the same kind of world that spawned these traditions.

 Having defended the supermarkets for their right to be soulless and unscrupulous, I would like to say that, in my opinion, they play a major role in the increasing obesity and consequent increasing ill-health of our community. A supermarket is a giant-sized convenience store, promoting an unhealthy diet, attractively packaging unhealthy fats and highly processed high-GI foods. Whole aisles are devoted to biscuits containing the harmful but commercially advantageous(cheaper,longer shelf life) palm oil. Refrigerated shelves are laden with yoghurts proclaiming that they are ninety eight or ninety nine per cent "fat-free" despite the same calorie content and less satiety leading to overeating and obesity. It is implied that confectionary which is nearly one hundred percent sugar is actively health-promoting by eye-catching "fat-free" labels. Unhealthy foods which are impossible to disguise are offered as the indulgence "you deserve" in promotions that bypass the rational mind of many vulnerable people.

So, what to do? Well my wife has found quite a good solution. She doesn't go to the supermarket for her shopping except for irregular visits for kitchen and laundry supplies. She goes to the greengrocer for fruit and vegetables, which also supplies milk and bread. She doesn't have to run the gauntlet of temptation all the way to the back of the shop just to get some milk. She gets bread from the baker and meat from the butcher: not so useful for Christmas treats and decorations in early October but she is losing weight by eating healthy foods.

fashion

There is something about people that makes us act together. This gives us greater power. We can undertake great projects, defend our lands and use our resources more efficiently. We can build the pyramids, create the Roman Empire, and transform scientific research into the everyday structure of our lives. But to do this we must think as a group.

Perhaps we only exist because our ancestors were better at working together to our evolutionary advantage. Therefore it is no surprise that we have a pronounced need to conform. This both protects us by allying ourselves to the strength of greater numbers, and also allows us to coordinate our actions for goals beyond the capacity of an individual. Even fashion in clothing is a group behaviour resulting in greater efficiency in production and distribution. Once established,however, a fashion industry then acts to reinforce the mass behaviour from which it profits. Of course there must be a few independent thinkers to steer this army of conformism, the celebrated designers who we look to for guidance in the most acceptable methods to cover our nakedness.

This desire to belong must explain such phenomena as the religious conversions of whole countries - in theory, this requires the otherwise unlikely simultaneous recognition by millions of people that their philosophy of the nature of existence is flawed and that only one particular alternate interpretation is likely to be correct. These changes have not always been forced upon people by war although such mass changes in thinking have certainly contributed to wars. Eight million people are thought to have died in the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Much, though by no means all, of the impetus in the conflict derived from the new Protestant ideas such as Lutheranism and the newer Calvinist thinking which spread rapidly through the central countries of Europe, just as Christianity itself once had done. Ideas do not necessarily proliferate to the advantage of their believers. Their creation of a common community of thought seems to be more powerful than personal well-being. So group belief can be an overwhelming social force, but ripe for manipulation by anyone in search of influence, power, or money.

What would you say if I offered you my product for which you would pay for the privilege of damaging your health, causing cancer, as well as lung and arterial disease without any compensating benefit? It would damage the health of your family and place a burden on the whole of society. Yet with the help of advertising and nothing more to gain than the profits of a few companies our society accepted this insane offer to smoke. No wonder we accepted Nazism, Fascism and Jim Jones. To be fair we also sustain the group endeavours of a functioning society such as health, education and transport systems, so we can't entirely abandon the basis of our social cohesion. But if we want to succeed against destructive group behaviours such as rising obesity, addictions and racism we need to either use the tools of mass manipulation or try to foster greater independent thought. Some form of Social Anarchism or Social Ecology is good in theory but would probably fail like communism and other political theories in the real world of greed, ambition, guns and paranoia as the "celebrated designers" hijack the compliant multitudes for their own gain.

raining

rain coming

in the afternoon. The clouds gather ominously, barely moving as a rain-laden easterly weather front meets the prevailing westerly stream. Like an arm wrestle the two sides meet directly overhead then slowly rotate as the east takes control.

The sky darkens as a distant rumbling thunder rolls in.

Through a gap in the trees rain can be seen on the next hill. It is still dry but a freshening wind brings the evocative smell of wet earth.

Spring flowers seem to be waiting...

                                                                                   for the rain to begin.

                                                                                   
The rain gets heavier...

                                                 













                                                      and heavier,







but the flowers don't seem to mind.

                          

partial enlightenment

At last I understand the serve. Not just theoretically. It is only truly understood when it can be physically performed . The integration of the concept and the practice is an exquisite pleasure after a year and a half of lessons and enthusiastic practice. In theory I don't care but it is enjoyable to win games with my new action.

On reflection it is interesting to find out that most of the components of a good serve happen automatically if the basic movement is right. You don't consciously need to force your weight forward or upward or think about shoulder rotation if the underlying action is correct. Technically my main problem was to slow or delay the ball toss but I just couldn't make myself do it. I was willing but psychologically unable. It just felt wrong so I tried everything else for more than a year then went back to the advice I was given in my first lesson.
A child who has lessons from the beginning would not need to think about their service action. It would simply be. But I love my newfound combination of awareness and execution.

I'm sure that there is an analogy here for other areas of life. Firstly, there is a world of difference between academic and practical knowledge. That is never more clear than in obstetrics and gynaecology. I recall one highly credentialled resident, when I was a registrar, being judged with the statement ,"As an obstetrician he makes a very good physician."

Secondly, it is not necessarily wrong to live an unexamined life but full consciousness is more satisfying and might prevent much of our flawed group behaviour, since a group encourages us to give up our independent critical thinking. In tennis I understand my serve. If it becomes faulty I can correct it. Most people can't understand why they are obese, or addicted to smoking or gambling because they are not in the habit of examining the basic principles on which their lives are constructed. Perhaps they are frightened of what they might find, the old existential terror. Don't look. We just want to be told what to do. Perhaps that explains the rise of personal trainers, although the great mass of people can't afford them.For them we have daytime television.

Now I just need to understand the forehand, the backhand and the volley.

actually on holiday

                       Another sunny day, this time with fluffy clouds over the nearby hills.

                                                                             





Insects are out and about.






























                  Alone for the day, I have a cooked lunch - cubes of fillet steak seared with oil, red wine and Worcestershire sauce, fried onion, blanched broccoli, and fresh capsicum, carrot and tomato.

Outside, birds sing all day and bees hum from flower to flower.

                                     

                                             So this is what happens while I'm at work.

holiday

First morning of my long needed holiday is still, clear, and sunny.

The trees have new leaves.

Birds are singing. Really. They seem cheerful.

Sunshine illuminates the house.

Outside even the weeds are pretty.

The house is quiet. Everyone is sleeping in. Perhaps later we might go somewhere. A fly buzzes by just  outside the bedroom window.

The phone rings.

It is the labour ward.

There is no obstetrican.

The hospital didn't arrange any cover for my holiday.

Sweet.