Simple gifts

A very chilled day, lots of music and pottering and talking this morning; went for a walk in the afternoon and settled down with a movie before driving down to Sussex in the fog to see friends for the evening, which was lovely. An excellent meal and board games and lovely company. Robbie Williams did his best to spoil it, the plonker. Bring back Kenneth McKellar I say (if you are old enough to remember him). Good fireworks though. And I did make a big point of saying, minutes after midnight: "I will be sixty next year". Which is true but will not happen until September 2018 so the best part of 21 months. Still ...

The other highlight of the day for me was discovering Simple Gifts, an old 19th Century Shaker song. You will know the tune but probably not the lyrics, which got replaced in the 1960s by Lord of the Dance (another case of the Christian Church pinching from and bastardising other cultures - sorry not a fan of organised religion):

Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

Didn’t feel like New Year’s eve until late in the day. Perhaps not a bad thing. That was after all a very mixed year. I’m not sure I want to dwell on it. What’s the point? Everything that could be said about the state of the world has been said. And when it comes to my small world, I keep a record of my happy days, my travails and my musings here on blipfoto and feel part of a great community of people who help me get through. 

More than ever I am convinced that life is about values, about living them each and every day, and trying just to be a better and more creative person. I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions; they feel like they are set up to fail and sidestep the real issues. So here’s to more of the journey. Happy New Year everyone, and if you are on the same sort of path I am, see you around in 2017.