Tag: #anticipation

Is #bellringing the pursuit of aimless joy?

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

I was reading an article about how a woman and her child walked round and round in circles in the deep snow like Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.  It had no purpose, barely counted as exercise and once more snow fell they’d do it all again.  Sometimes for over an hour.  #bellringing can be a bit like that.  We can go ringing, be it practice night, a quarter peal or peal attempt, a training day or service ringing.  Sometimes #bellringing can have no real purpose but we do it anyway.  When the child was asked why she was trudging in circles in the snow for ages, seemingly pointlessly, her simple answer was because it’s fun. #bellringing can be like that too!

Ask people who make sand sculptures, or balance stones, why they do that when they know their efforts will be lost to the elements, and they’ll tell you that it helps them shed stress, entertain others and in some cases “mess with people’s heads”.  #bellringing can be like that too! Once we’ve rung our bells, the sound is lost for ever (unless you’ve recorded it and uploaded it to YouTube). It was transitory; there and now gone.  But we do it for the fleeting joy of the activity itself.

We can spend a lot of time obsessing over personal goals and problems, feeling the weight of expectation and the fears that go with them.  #bellringing can trick us into take a break from all of that.  I often consider it therapy after a bad day at the office.  To be able to do something physical, that requires my full attention, and stretches my brain.  It can become a meditation, a moment to be in the present.  When we ring with others we can feel that we are part of something bigger but it’s equally as transient as our few moments or hours of #bellringing itself.

When we think of #bellringing vanishing into the larger scheme of space and time, along with any method mistakes we may make, we needn’t be afraid to try a new bell, a new method, have a go at conducting something for the first time.  In the few moments that follow, it becomes ephemeral and consigned to history.

The power of anticipation

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Having something to look forward to has so many benefits.  It can be energising and helps relieve stress.  In its simplest form, having a bad week at the office but having fun plans for the weekend keeps you going and helps you focus on doing what you need to do knowing that you have a reward at the end.

Simple things that we can anticipate include things like looking forward to taking a lunch break during the day, watching your favourite TV show, indulging in a piece of cake after a week of dieting, planning holidays and other ways to treat yourself.

Over the last 18 months we have had little to look forward to with not being able to see family and friends, some people haven’t been able to work whilst others have been overworked. My 50th birthday plans didn’t happened as travel was out of the question.  We didn’t get to see our daughter for several months and even when we could, only at a distance, outside.

So, as we crawl carefully out of lockdown and can see people again, we are starting to plan activities that are fun and where we can spend time together.

C and I have booked a week away in late September down to the south coast.  We will make use of our National Trust and English Heritage memberships and visit lots of castles and houses in the area.  I did a google search of other things in the area and came across a vineyard not long from where we are staying.  I mentioned it to C and that they did tours and tastings and they had some vacancies for the time that we are there.  He didn’t take much persuading to book it.  So we have one definite activity booked to look forward to.  Something that’s very grown up and elegant too.

R lives near to Hampton Court Palace and often walks through the parks to view it from the outside.  We have been there before but she doesn’t remember visiting the house, only the time we took her to the flower festival for her birthday one year.  She often spots activities they host but generally they are quite expensive.  I spotted something in my socials time line of a food festival there over the August bank holiday weekend.  I mentioned it to her and she was keen, so I mentioned it to C and he’s booked it.  What’s not to like with all sorts of fab food and drink in a Tudor palace?

So I now have two exciting things to look forward to that are both quite refined events and very grown up, but appeal to some of my favourite things to do: spending time with C and Rand eating and drinking fabulous things.