Was it the poetry or the group relationships and the mingling of minds that made the poetry picnic special?
Are multiple relationships or group relationships more satisfying than family relationships or marriage relationships with time?
Can any individual men relationships or women relationships ever fully satisfy our intellectual and social close relationship needs for ever?
I’m not talking about anything as complicated as having an unfaithful relationship with a lover or mistress or being engaged in a triangular relationship such as polyamory.
Rather I’m talking about intellectual relationships and the need many of us have for social and spiritual relationships that encourage our minds to soar, our spirits to sing and each day to feel really worthwhile.
I remember visiting a place called Porlock in West Somerset on a warm weekend last Summer when there was a literary festival in full swing. The best bit was the poetry picnic, not for the readings but for the discussions that took place afterwards. Most people I spoke to were poets or writers and everybody had a point of view and something exciting and stimulating to say.
A couple of years ago, I very much thought about going back to university before I discovered how much it was going to cost me in financial terms. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been such a Scrooge because the conversations I had at the Open Days in Plymouth, Gloucester and Bath were some of the most exciting I’ve had for years.
When I attended my daughter’s graduation and chatted to the lecturers and professors afterwards, again the conversation was stimulating and exciting, although the subject was archaeology about which I know almost nothing. Mingling with and talking to such intensely stimulating minds was a real tonic.
Sitting here in my writing room, I pause for a few moments to look out of the window where I can just see lambs playing on the hills and seagulls from the Bristol Channel soaring overhead.
At lunchtime, I will take my camper-van for a short drive up the road and explore a new walk on Exmoor for half an hour and all this is good and I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to think my own thoughts and walk my own walks in such beautiful countryside.
But is it enough? Where are the groups of people with whose minds I can mingle and with whom I can enjoy stimulating thoughts? The company of artists, musicians or writers would, of course be great, but I have a friend who told me he finds his new business incubation unit a stimulating place to work with his new colleagues in their new business. Whenever he makes a cup of coffee in the communal kitchen or walks down the corridor, he knows he will soon be talking to somebody from another incubation business that shares the facilities and that they will almost always have something interesting to say.
When we fall in love, we withdraw into our couple relationships to form close family relationships which are no doubt necessary for successfully bringing up our children but when the children are gone and we are left with silence at the dinner table and long sighs, where then do we go to rediscover the exciting conversation and the mingling of minds and ideas that makes life really worthwhile?
Do we seek new loving relationships or are close group relationships more satisfying than family relationships or marriage relationships with the passing of time? Your comments are welcome 
Bye for now
Rob
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I quite agree. It’s just quite hard to find the people here locally-thank godness for the web these days! Do you think the Old Hospital building would be a helpful ‘hub’ type area for facilitating more of a connected network-working as a pyhsical meeting point,contact point? I wondered if there might be the possibility of a internet cafe/meeting centre for the local community? Stocking local food, produced by local people in a food co-op venture?
Cheers Vicky
Hi Vicky
It’s great to hear from you
Perhaps the first step is to put people in touch with each other. It is so easy to get hung up on buildings and a top-down approach.
Top-down starts with consultants who need paying large sums of money to produce reports that take many man-hours to agree and then almost always recommend new administrative structures which take huge amounts of money to implement even before the capital spending which is usually also recommended.
The sad result of top-down is the delay that takes place before the actual issues are resolved. Indeed, usually the whole process of facilitating systems etc. becomes the end itself and the objective is hardly ever achieved.
I’ve been discussing with the West Somerset Council an alternative approach which perhaps could be called the ‘bottom-up approach’.
Essentially, the bottom-up approach works by starting with the problem and simple solutions. See:
http://regeneration.hopcott.net/2009/03/bottom-up-approach-to-rural-economic-regeneration-grant-spending-essential-to-fight-the-2009-recession/
for more info.
Perhaps the Old Hospital would be a great place for people to meet but let’s put people in touch with each other so they can then decide where to meet and, as you say, the Web is a great way to bring people together.
Keep talking! You are a breath of fresh air
All best
Rob