Sunday 2 October 2016

HOW TIME FLIES

Each time it is a Monday it makes me consider just how quickly the time has flown since the previous Monday. Yes, it is 'stating the bleedin' obvious' as some of my UK friends are wont to say but almost everyone I know says the same thing. Yet, it is not true that time has flown quicker this year than it did last year. It is our perception only. (I am ignoring the miniscule changes in time in scientific terms) Perceptions are part of what it is to be human and boy do they get us into trouble at times. We are all guilty of perceiving things in a way not exactly good for the soul, or the mental or emotional well being of anyone. Yet, often it is the small as well as the large actions we take, guided, by our perceptions of our world that make the bigger world either a  better or a worse place. Just by making a thoughtless comment about someone we perceive as, say, overweight, or dumb, or ugly or having the wrong colour skin or language, we can hurt and sometimes destroy another person's well being.

I was thinking of this when re reading the first mystery thriller I wrote. (DAY AND KNIGHT-THE CASE OF MISSING THINGS) At the end of the story, out of  love, the protagonist Holly Day, makes a decision on her perceived view of what is best for her close friend,Lucy Knight. It is for my readers to decide whether the character made the correct decision. Some readers have told me they loved it, others are less enthusiastic.It is a judgement I as the author chose to make and no one was harmed by this.  In real life, as opposed to fiction, our perceptions lead to a judgement and so should always be carefully thought through.

In my recent book my characters cause certain things to eventuate by the perceptions they have of their world. In a new film script I am working on with three other writers a similar resolution has to be made about the way the story is revealed. Naturally, the perception, the world view. of the main character has to be consistent and worthy of the story being told but also it has to be true to the kind of person and world in which that character lives and breathes. In this case, because we are writing about someone from a culture different to our own, there is additional complexity. One persons view of the world can be completely different to our own. Is one wrong and one right? That is the problem, Is it simply sufficient to try and walk in another's shoes, Like time seeming to fly faster we have to stop and look inside ourselves to work out exactly what is making us feel the way we do. Is it fear? Arrogance? Laziness? Or just plain not thinking it through.There is no easy answer.

In the meantime, I am off for a nice cup of English Breakfast Tea. The time for a cuppa never seems to alter, or fly faster or slower. Odd that. Could this be in the DNA?

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