Skip to content
One Mans Mind
Menu
  • Poetry
  • Podcast
Menu

Paradise Restrained

Posted on 25/06/2010 by admin

I remember reading Moore’s Utopia many years ago about how to reach some kind of equilibrium in our political, social and ethical lives. And we all know the stories of the ‘perfect place’ that litter our cultures from Shangri-La to the Garden Of Eden. There is a definite belief amongst people that what we have is wrong in some way, that what we experience is misguided to some degree.

But also in these stories and ideas is the belief that there may be somewhere that is better except it is hidden or we have lost it, or that somehow there was a golden age way-back-when which we need to regain.

It isn’t hard to see why such stories have such a hold on us: we find life difficult, emotionally tragic and we all die. None of these things endear us to the social or political systems we live within because those systems have no answer for them. And religions give a hope of an answer and make a virtue of the pain as some kind of cathartic ticket to meet with god.

Atomic theory tells us that the atoms in us rarely get broken up, and the particles in our bodies have been here forever-and-a-day. And if you look outside the sunshine and fertile Earth is still there, she just has this ridiculous wallpaper of economics plastered all over her.

It is city life that makes utopia so important. Here in the countryside every breath taken is rewarding.

Post navigation

← How We Really Make Connections
The Temptation Of Language →

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About me

Children’s author, novelist, editor and poet.

Recent Comments

  1. xmc.pl on John Masefield
  2. Daniel on It is quite a thing
  3. Ian MacWatt on It is quite a thing
  4. Daniel on What Makes Poetry?
  5. Daniel on What Makes Poetry?

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
© 2025 One Mans Mind | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme