Utopia

I suppose it is most people that spend their time aiming for Utopia. To some it maybe the big house and car or children or some other situation in which they have finally arrived at the place they are aiming for.

What happens if you reach your Utopia? Does it continue to hold the same level of contentment or simply by reaching it does it become less than perfect? I ask because I have been in my Utopia for the last few years and it has much to my shock (should this be a shock?) become less than what I would want it to be.

So, if my Utopia is unattainable what do I aim for? Clearly there is not a condition or place that will in the long term allow me to continue in contentment. Trying to sustain the situation is not leading to any improvement in how my failing Utopia is perceived.

What to do then?

The next plan seems to be looking at how I live my life. Could it be that the way to contentment is through a set of behaviours and morals that allow me to approach my life minute by minute in a way that makes me proud and content with who I am?

This might not come as much of a surprise, it really shouldn’t to me. Isn’t this just an extension of the idea that you can never have enough things? You can never have enough ‘lack of stress’ or enough nice days out? As with all the rest of these things an emotional Utopia is simply the same as any other want – insatiable and impossible.

I’ve been in my Utopia for a while and now it is not enough. There can never be enough time/ space and lack of pressure because I already have it all. I think I have to settle myself into a system that allows me to be proud in the moment, is this the antidote to an insatiable want?

What sort of system would provide this then? I need a belief system that makes sense of day to day situations and gives a coherent response that fulfils my basic needs.

I think I know how this should work, I simply need to behave in the way that I know I should – I need to listen to my morals and higher brain function.

Do I simply have to behave as I know I should? It could be this simple meet my own basic moral expectations of myself.

I should try this.

Strava- Why do this?

The idea then is that you can post your bike rides and record your distances on a website that your cycling ‘friends’ can see. There is the added feature that you can compete with every other user on any and all stretches of road to be KOM or fastest rider.
The question then is one of why I want to do this. I know full well that I am not Bradley Wiggins and that I’m just an old guy on a bike but at a basic level it feels good to be better than others at something.
The problem is kudos and comments, just leave it alone. I know if I’ve done a good ride, I don’t need to know I’m awesome or the like, I know where I stand and it is as always on the bell curve somewhere in the middleish.
How do you use it?

tent, camper or motorhome.

Ok, so we’ve just been camping and the thing circling my head is What is the optimum option £ vs experience? 

Now a tent is great, but you have to put the thing up, you have no privacy and you can hear everything from dutch christians singing bad hymns to the 80’s rock ballads from an adjacent hippy van. The experience is invaded and exposed, but you are outside and you are in a different place.
Campervans, I get the feeling these are wanted by people that don’t really like being outside. I have a sister who wants a campervan and it is just a desire not to be where she currently is. You can of course drive the things about but they would really make a shit car and if you get an old one you would spend most of the time praying that you would make it too and from or up any slight hill. They are cramped, so you end up in an awning and expensive. Not one of these then.
Motorhome, you are not an American and fuel is expensive, not to mention the £30,000 to actually buy one- why would you do this? you could travel the world for a year for £30,000 not sit watching the behemoth depreciate on the drive.
Caravan – same as above really except it fucks your car up.
Basically then if you actually like being outside and can put up with ‘other people’ a tent it is.
I suppose the aim is to experience something different, trying to make it like home isn’t it.

so there.

Blogging

So,

I can’t post this stuff on facebook as it’s too long. Twitter, I don’t understand it really so then I think that just leaves writing a blog. I get the feeling that I see this rather like posting my rides on Strava, I’d really like people to be interested and impressed but would hate to admit it. In that sense this is rather get it off your chest therapeutic.

A few rules for this from me.

My grammar is not good, if I was taught this at school I don’t remember or didn’t understand – sorry.

I’m not sure if I’m going to offend anyone – I might but it is not intentional.

That’s about it I think for rules.

Let’s wait to see what sort of guff comes out then…