Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE

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Born in the wrong era?

Were you born in the right era? Absolutely, as the Universal way of things brings our fore-bearers and ancestors in the succession that transpired; how could it be any other way? But do you ever feel that maybe you would be happy in a different time? Sometimes I feel that I am living outside of the era with which I have the most affinity. Yes, I was a 1950's lad and now I'm 'coping' with the technological gadgetry that is apparently essential for modern living and for my own part, am entirely happy with life as it is. I enjoy life 'right now' and all the comforts and 'modern' luxuries that we take for granted and of which our ancestors would never have dreamed. But a big part of me connects very fully with a period in time that's many decades earlier; I have the strangest affinity with the late 19th and early 20th century.

For instance my music tastes are strictly classical, and while I love Bach and Mozart, the music of Faure, Borodin, Ravel, Debusy, Rachmaninov, Dvorjak and Elgar, all composers from the last century, do something special to my soul. My favourite period in painting is the late 19th century Impressionist and early 20th century. While email is convenient and 'essential', I prefer to write letters with a fountain pen and wet ink that needs time to dry; I do my correspondence in this way at least once a week. I'm an enthusiastic photographer in my spare time and a Fellow of the RPS; my preferences are still with traditional skills using film and darkroom processes to produce fine prints in black and white, all with minimal manipulation and void of SFX. I play the violin and having struggled with a shoulder rest for support I threw it away and studied the techniques of old masters of last century before the shoulder rest was invented as "a means of making playing easier" (but can cause problems). Dissatisfied with my vibrato I studied and am now using (to the best of my ability) the 'fingertip impulse vibrato' used by early 20th century violin virtuosos such as Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, Misha Elman and which is now almost a lost art. Although I get superb tuition from my violin teacher, if I refer to a book, it's not a new publication with the latest ideas but a 1921 classic by Leopold Auer, teacher of Heifetz, written as an old man and in which he refers to his time studying with Joachim in 1862. I love antique furniture, natural materials of leather, wood, paper and other organic materials and although I appreciate the benefits of modern carbon-fibre and plastics I'd rather be free of them.

So am I living in the present? Well, I'd answer "Absolutely". While I connect with all these elements from previous eras, I use them in the here and now. This is what I do on a day-to-day basis. It's not a fanciful idea of keeping 'tradition alive' but how I enjoy my time and I gain a deal of satisfaction from it. Naturally there are aspects of life in a previous times that would not be too pleasant; poor sanitation, excessive working hours and poor conditions, but if this was all we knew (having never glimpsed 21st century living) then we would not think twice about it. (How crude will today's living standards be considered in another 100 years time.) But take away these 'negatives', there are many great things to be appreciated in previous eras. No Blackberry's or IPhones for starters!

I believe I was born in the right era; how else could it be? However, with my traditional leanings it is likely that no matter which century I was born, I would connect with a period that has gone before. And does it all matter? Not one bit. As long as we're happy and enjoying ourselves, that's all that counts (while ensuring that in the process we do no harm to others!)

I shall go and write a letter now.....with a pen. :-)

Posted by Noël on November 30, 2007 8:03 AM | Permalink