Reflections in the Mist

Chapter 1: !!! - Fight for free mind

Chapter 1:

!!! – Fight for free mind

We live in a world grounded in reality. Many of the things our ancestors believed in are slowly being disproved by scientists. Take the Bible - according to scholars there was no garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve lived in Africa many thousand years apart; no Ark saved the animal species from the Flood; the Tower of Babel was not destroyed by the hand of God.  There are other things that we discover ourselves as we grow older; Santa Claus does not exist, there is no Easter Bunny and your parents are not named Mum and Dad.

But, people do believe in these things, passionately so, too. Surely then, if there is enough belief, there must be some foundation of reality there, some basis of fact?

Maybe God does exist, maybe there is a Tooth Fairy, and maybe dragons thrive at the ends of the Earth?

Maybe it’s bullshit!

I think it’s bullshit…

Unless I have seen it, or read some scientific explanation, I just don’t believe. That’s just the way I am

Or rather, that was just me.

February 2008

I sit in the Roundabout Hotel in Fareham, Hampshire. I’m there with my parents, the owners of the hotel, theirs and my parents’ other friends and my brother. I’m eating a rare steak covered in a spicy pepper sauce with vegetables and chips, it’s great. Everyone is talking amongst each other and I turn to my brother, Andrew.

I ask him something, something that I’ve been thinking about for a few days. I ask him if he wants to come to Japan with me. I tell him I’m fed up with England, my job, etc, and need to get away. He looks at me, gives me a pretty non-committal “Huh?” I think that Roo doesn’t believe me. I don’t believe myself! It’s not a thing I’ve ever considered before and is so far out of my comfort zone people would think that I’ve gone crazy.

I press him again. “So, what do you think?”

“Yeah, why not?” Still no real enthusiasm in his voice.

“What have you got to loose, you’ve got nothing really going on in your life. You are working two dead-end jobs and not getting anywhere. Come with me and do something crazy!” that may sound pretty harsh, but I really need him to come.

“I fancy going to Canada.”

“CANADA, why Canada when you can go to Japan?” I almost shout with frustration. “Tell me: which country would be more of a challenge, which would be more surprising and interesting?” He just stares at me for a while, then “Yeah, I suppose. When do you want to go?” Finally, A tiny spark of interest!

“September…” Satisfied, I cut into my steak and slice a chunk off. Dabbing it in the sauce and loading the fork up with some carrots and a stray chip, I lift it to my mouth, dripping a little sauce down my chin before eating it. Amazing, perfectly cooked. Got to love a steak!

7th October 2008: XVII

I scooped some rice from my bowl using chopsticks. Flicking off some seaweed as I went, I lifted it to my mouth, dripping a little raw egg down my chin before eating it. Amazing, perfectly rancid. I hate raw egg!!

“Dude, I hate raw egg! Why would you crack a raw egg into your rice?” I demanded. “Haven’t these guys heard of salmonella?”

“Dude, you are always complaining! You’ve had egg in your rice before?”