23 Oct 2009
How much?
Living in London begs the question : Recession? What Recession? Drowned in a tsunami of euro tourism Oxford Street is packed, Covent Garden Market is even more gross than before and the queues at Madame Tussauds stretch longer than a tarts pink limousine. Sit on the day-time tube and hardly anyone speaks english, with as always, the spanish streets ahead when it comes to decibel counting across seats. One wants to tap them on the shoulder and say " Excuse me, but we don’t talk here ", but bless them all for arriving to drag London prices down so the locals can benefit. If restaurants can make profit out of an £8 two course meal, why did they need to take the piss before crunch time – charging what they liked? The answer is : because we let them.
In good times the lust to purchase becomes the norm, in bad times we pull ourselves out of the coma of "must have " and observe the damage unconscious spending has on our psyche, but we also need to count the cost of our behaviours including the cost of getting wasted, twatted and developing a muffin top waistband. Letting yourself lose the plot is not the problem, it’s part of the human condition, we are not saints; the problem lies in how much time it takes to see there IS a problem and how quickly you resolve it.
It’s easy to check a credit card statement every month to see how bad you are doing but not so easy to check the time you have wasted over the past month. We all do it.
So here is the weekend task to consider.
Grab your Oyster Card and make space for 3 hours, get on a bus and become a tourist in a part of London you would never reach, even with a Heineken in your hand.
It costs £1 to take a bus journey. Blakey would be mortified.
Work out all the times you got wasted over the past month and tot up the financial cost? What could you have bought with that? Don’t be surprised if it’s a few days in Ibiza. Don’t forget to bill in cabs, lost phones & dodgy deals with the marching powder.
Look at how your last month’s activities have affected other people.
You know who they are. Make amends or celebrate your influence.
Check out your time management over the past week and see where it could have been tweeked.
Plan ahead for the next 7 days and see how much time can be saved.
Living in London is not just for tourists but a ride on a tourist bus or a local walking tour can refresh your passion for living in a London that the writer Peter Ackroyd describes -
" Yet, on Sundays and public holidays, Lombard Street falls quiet. Throughout the old City, silence returns. The history of silence is one of London’s secrets. It has been said of the city that its most glorious aspects are concealed, and that observation is wonderfully well fitted to account for the nature of silence in London. It comes upon the pedestrian, or traveller, suddenly and unexpectedly; it momentarily bathes the senses, as if going from bright light into a darkened room. Yet if London sound is that of energy and animation, silence must therefore be an ambiguous presence within city life. "
How much time do you give to London silence?
How do you take on board it’s strength, protection and joy?
