To quote one of my favourite songs ("Medicine" by The All New Adventures of Us), Britain is a nation of cynics; that much is true, and part of our national identity, something that on the back of the jubilee we're all probably very familiar with. It is also true that we are in dark days, for reasons you would have seen in the Daily Mail and heard discussed on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
Unfortunately, and this is only my view - now is not the time for pessimism.
During WWII London was Blitzed continuously. Great masterpieces of architecture and design were obliterated and thousands killed. Men, women and children. You're loved ones crushed under rubble and dust, your home destroyed and the only thing holding you together was hope, hanging tentatively by a thread, but that thread was enough to see us through a war, enough to bring communities together and unite the country in a steadfast and stubborn belief that we could pull through.
The past few days have been a display that spirit and unity, two words you very rarely hear anymore, are still present in our country. We are still a great country.
Cynics and downright pessimists (there's that word again), will say that the Queen costs too much (she costs us each 62p each so...) and that there are more important things that need sorting out in Britain rather than celebrating some old women staying on the throne for 60 years. True. But its events like the past few days that will stay in the minds of children and of the next generations, it is those moments that we can look back at and enjoy when the shit hits the fan and we feel like everything is falling apart.
If we showed half as much unity with each other on a day by day basis then we would be a much more forward moving country. We don't all have to like each other, that's a ridiculous notion, but we can look forward, and we can try and see the good out there. I think that is a large part of it. Every time you see a new manager take over the English football team for example, everybody expects England to go on some rampage of victories and be the best team in the world overnight. It cant happen immediately - It takes time!
We are a nation going through massive changes, and while this entire post is hopelessly romantic in its ideas, surely you too would like a day to come where you can enjoy life, and our country. There will always be people who are unhappy, there will always be people who disagree. But in my mind, the time for dragging our heels and moaning (such is the English way) is over. I don't see any room for negativity going forwards as a country. Sure be cynical, that's entirely different, but there is a fine line between being a cynic and being a misery. Negative energy will get you nowhere. Fact.
I could ramble on for ages, but I won't. I think to be honest everybody has to make up their own minds on this and where you stand. There are lots of things that need fixing and resolving. Nobody wants the wool pulled over their eyes, but at the same time change cannot just happen. If we are going to go forward and make this a country that we are proud of, then we have to believe its possible to do so. We have to try and be as optimistic as we can be.
I'll leave you with a quote that I pretty much live by nowadays, and one that a good friend told me when I felt like there was no optimism left in me. You may have heard it before....
"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be".
- A. Lincoln.
Really enjoyed reading this matthew, look forward to more articles by you!
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