Just a Minute

I used to enjoy putting the metaphorical pen to paper, but I fell out of love with the whole idea. While I found it helpful to write down my thoughts, I found it increasingly unhelpful, because it made no difference. Indeed, it made me feel worse, because it all seemed so pointless. But, as another year comes to a close – not just another year, rather/perhaps the worst year of my life – I find myself seeking the undoubted catharsis of this process. I suspect it may not last too long, but right now I feel it is important enough for me to “take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.” 

That line (from Hamlet’s opening soliloquy, in case you were wondering) just came into my head as I was sat here wondering which way to go. I was never a huge fan of Shakespeare, but I remember several quotations from Hamlet, some forty-three years or so after memorising them for my A Level exam, and it fits nicely with what I’m dealing with. It’s disconcerting that my memory is failing me, of this I have no doubt, but some things just stick. Perhaps they stick because they are important – “To be or not to be” – or perhaps they stick because they are entirely inconsequential. The registration of dad’s Ford Cortina: FAR 283G.

I selected “thesixtysecond” as the title for this blog for the very simple reason that I am already halfway through my 62nd year, which means that in 2024 I will (hopefully) be around to celebrate my 62nd birthday, having entered this world in 1962. (I know that all sounds wrong, but I’ve given you all the details should you wish to check my arithmetic.) I also like the fact that a sixty second time period is just… well, you can work that one out.

Okay, this has taken more than a minute. Sorry.

I’ll aim to bring something new in each installment, but I offer my apologies in advance if I repeat myself, which I will probably do on occasion. Memory, you see.