A happy childhood - one of two children, planned, wanted and loved. A great education - every one of my teachers driven by a strong motivation to motivate - to get their pupils curious about the world around them, how it functions, its place in the Cosmos. An unquenchable desire to learn - rather than a need to pass exams or compete with other pupils - drives me on. With easy and unlimited access to the world's learning online, the curious child will not be held back, provided that it is continually encouraged.
Individual development is not just about memorising facts and marshalling them into insights to make sense of the world. It is also about creativity - music, the visual arts, storytelling. A secure childhood without bullying, without aggression (only whiffs of it from history books), a comfortable childhood without hunger, conflict or illness. People wonder how their forefathers were allowed to be fed with foods that harmed their health.
Nations, nationalities, have become about culture, tradition and identity - it is pleasant to travel to witness different customs and landscapes in our neighbours' lands - borders between countries have become as meaningless as those between towns and villages. The last wars were fought a long time ago, some over ideological differences, some over borders - but that was when mankind was less developed and more aggressive.
We live long. We make music, we discuss, we travel - technologies today make jet airliners as obsolete as steam trains seemed after their withdrawal from service. We travel to the stars. We contact other spacetime-faring civilisations, that, like us, have matured, have emerged from a dangerous adolescence, communicating to share wisdom, scientific knowledge. Portals to other universes, dimensions, travel across time. Reaping the rewards of our understanding of physics.
Science is blending with spirituality. Religions remain as deep metaphor, wisdom embedded in ancient texts; some still practice but no longer are the texts taken literally, or used as the basis for aggression. Science no longer belittles the spiritual but remains open to the metaphysical as a direction for further research.
Driven on by curiosity and a desire to create, to advance ever closer to the One.
POSTSCRIPT, 13 April 2022: I dream I am studying at a university; it is like Cambridge, but bigger, grander, and set on a hill. Stretching up the hillside are multiple college quadrangles, 15th century architecture with pinnacles and gargoyles. Students everywhere, deep in discourse. I am researching the etymology of street names. To get to the library I need, I have to crawl through a narrow passage - that familiar birth-canal dream again!
This time last year:
Qualia memories: rural Gloucestershire, 1973
This time two years ago:
Lent 2020 - the summing up
This time three years ago:
Strength in numbers
This time six years ago:
Cultural differences: distance to power
This time ten years ago:
Painting the Forum Orange
This time 13 years ago:
That's what I like about the North
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