Familiarity breeds content
15 May 2009 by Paul Northup
Talk at the school gate in these credit-crunched times often turns to how much it costs to keep our little ones happy – to keep them amused, occupied. A trip here; a visit there; a film at the cinema; a bite to eat. It all adds up. Apparently.
Then recently, at a storytelling night I was at round a camp fire (see the Generous action about having a ‘power cut party’), I heard a friend remembering his childhood: day after day, hour after hour (when he wasn’t in school or in bed) spent in the same patch of woodland behind his home. He described, in persuasive detail, how his familiarity with that small bit of nature led him into a world of enchantment and content. And how he still draws on the memory of that time to sustain him now when things get tough.
I often think – with a sigh, perhaps – that a Generous life might be a slightly contracted one; one that involves less travel (or, at least, travel by different means and with a different mindset). I am often struck by the fact that a Generous life will probably mean a more local life than perhaps we had grown up expecting. Perhaps.
But perhaps this is all the answer to our bemoaning our credit card bills listing things we’ve done to keep our children happy: perhaps all this going to places and seeing things is not what’s needed. Perhaps our little people (as lots of us were in the past) would be as happy to muck around in their gardens (if we have them), woods (if we live near them), or at their local parks.
Of course, I’m glossing over all the (perceived) ‘stranger danger’ concerns that stalk modern day parenting – and the fact that there are so many more cars now than when most of us were young. But the principle remains: we somehow need to (re)learn the knack of our immediate surroundings – be they rural or urban, or a mix of the two – funding our imaginations and our spirits. It’s better for our bank balances, better for the planet and, ultimately, better for our wellbeing.
When it comes to people, the old adage – ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ – is sadly often true. But I’m convinced that to live a more Generous life, we will have to learn to turn that saying on its head; to drawn comfort and contentment from what surrounds us; from what we have easy access to; from what is familiar.
And if you do still need to take the family out and you don’t want to break the bank, then take a look at our Holiday Generously action which carries links to lots of Free Days Out websites.
Pictured: the twins having fun with hats and trugs.
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About the Blogger
Paul Northup
Reading a few lines before sleep, listening to Elbow, inspired by Stanley Hauerwas, on the way down with the Rams, trying to hardly ever use the car, hopeful and fearful for my children, tired but usually happy.
