Acclimatising

It is over two months since I set out for Spain and I am home. That simple life, propelled through the miles by my own efforts with a pace that lent a closeness and appreciation to the world through which I traveled and every day a clear focus, that is now a fading memory. I am home, home to a life where ‘modernity' smothers all I had before. A life of fuss and busyness, every need at the tap of a button and every minute relentlessly filled. Maybe Rudyard Kipling got it wrong. 

After so many weeks of detachment from its daily intrusion, the news makes a particular impression. News chosen for me by faceless others and mostly for its negative impact. Of wars. Of the poverty of many. And of the failings of society and organisations through their underfunding or their greed, opposite sides of a coin but we lose the toss either way. A diet feeding the schadenfreude for others' misfortunes rather than a celebration of what we ourselves have. And despite my weeks away and the efforts of the daily news cycle nothing I am hearing has really changed.

In my time away though I have largely avoided the news' seeping negativity, a negativity that at the very least frustrates given that we have no control over those events. And this, we are told, is an underlying cause of stress. Instead, the issues with which I have been faced are those over which I did have control. I would choose how far I went and with whom while enjoying the daily backdrop of the natural world, a benefit to both mind and body. Likewise I enjoyed the company of strangers, proper conversation with real people and not some neutered modern replacement remotely sent, technologically delivered. Without nuance. Without interpretation of physical expression. Just written words.

I know that in a short while I will have returned to 'normal', back to the trappings of a modern and relatively privileged life. That which I had as part of my daily routine in the last couple of months now requires effort to maintain: the association of strangers - helping and being helped; enjoying hours outdoors whatever the weather; and appreciating the simple things in life rather than immersing myself in consumerist luxuries. I have no doubt I will fail in this; my walk was like an inoculation to the shortcomings of modern living and like an inoculation the effectiveness will wear off. I guess a booster will be required at some point.