1000 Awesome Things

Over dinner one night my dad started telling me about his first day in Canada.

It was 1968 and he was twenty-three, arriving on a plane with eight dollars in his pocket to start a new life by himself in a country he had never visited.

“A community group had a welcome dinner for new immigrants,” he started excitedly “And they had a big table of food!”

I was unimpressed.

“A table of food,” I agreed flatly while staring straight ahead and flipping past baseball highlights on TV.

“A table of food,” he continued. “Basically Neil, all the presentation of the picnic food on the table, I didn’t recognize. There were two or three kinds of salad. Potato salad, macaroni salad, maybe coleslaw. Probably four different kinds of sandwiches, ham sandwich, turkey sandwich, chicken sandwich, roast beef sandwich. Then there were the main courses they called it, you know…

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Getting things done…

This is a little story about four people
named Everybody, Somebody,
Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done
and Everybody was sure that
Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but
Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that
because it was Everybody’s job.

Everybody thought that Anybody could
do it, but Nobody realized that
Everybody wouldn’t do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed
Somebody when Nobody did what
Anybody could have done.

Paradise

The concept of “Paradise” to everybody is the same, a utopia, an escape, a person’s “happy place” away from the incoherent realities that we wake up to every morning; but yet at the same time the notion of “Paradise” to you and me is completely different and is one of the most interchangeable and widely defined words in the English dictionary.

For me, paradise could simply mean sitting in the garden, in just the right temperature with the perfect amount of breeze, relaxing and reading a book. For another “paradise” could be relaxing on white sandy beaches, on a secluded island that typical holiday makers have never even heard of. Another person’s paradise could be their job, spending time with family and friends.

Relative to each of our individual needs, paradise can even mean living a life without physical pain. Paradise could be a mental state, a sense of belonging, a feeling or a physical location. Our definition of paradise can also change as to what mood you are in; a bad mood could link to paradise being somewhere far, far away. A contented person could suggest their paradise is right in front of them.

If you think about it, the concept of paradise really could be anything; physical locations, or merely dreams. Many songs, films and books speak about paradise and the idea that there is somewhere out there where each person can feel content and happy keeps many from falling, from completely giving up.

Just take a moment to decide what  / where your paradise is, is it anything like I have suggested. This term explains to the average reader just how amazing and versatile the English language is, one word can mean so many things even just to one person let alone hundreds. If you took a poll to find out what paradise means to each person and how they would define it, I guarantee you that only a few will be similar. Some people will find their paradise, some have already found it and some sadly may never truly find what they believe it to be and don’t forget those who don’t see their paradise until it has passed them by but remember this: The world is yours, make of it what you will, our time is short so what are you waiting for? Don’t try to find a paradise which is unlikely to be found, find something that is already in front of you.

Reality TV, is it really real?

As a nation we are obsessed by the latest drama our neighbour has got into, what trouble the latest ‘hottest’ celebs have found and more importantly what gossip you can gather about people who are just the same as you or me. This has lead to a significant rise in reality television programs such as Jeremy Kyle and Big Brother as they are perfect for this sole reason; it provides a life line for pensioners, stay at home mums and the unemployed. Those who live vicariously through others. But are they really living?

It could be said that this rise in being obsessed with everybody else has left us with a society of shallow, disjointed people who have very little personality of their own. I’m not discounting myself from this either, I like my fair share of a reality TV show, I can be very judgemental of other people and above all I love being shocked / humoured / being informed of events happening to the people around me. Even reality shows (meant to be unscripted and left to run themselves) are very picky in the people they choose to take part and what events happen when to provide maximum entertainment.

Is what we see in reality television really what is around us in society? Does it show a true sample of the population? The answer to both is no. It’s no surprise that the older generations cringe at what society has turned into and what we have become, even I am shocked at the low levels that people are prepared to go to to avoid proper working jobs but I strongly hope that they realise that there is still some good in society. The people who go unreported in the news, the ones who work hard in and for decent jobs and lead (from a media perspective) a boring, normal life. These are the people who are really should appear in ‘reality’ TV for it to be truly real.