28 June

I don’t often talk about myself or my family here, because I still remember a time when that was the most boring thing a person could do. But because many seem to live their lives through social media now, and interpret my posts as my life, some counterbalancing maybe. The older I get, the more the only thing that really interests me is ideas, and using ideas to improve lives. That’s all that’s ever interested me, have never wanted a career (yawn), I just want to understand things. So I’ve always picked jobs that gave me room to think. The moment those jobs turned into implementing stupid things for unimaginative ambitious dullards, I left. What drives me is very simple things. Finding useful work, and doing it well. Work that needs doing, to improve all of our lives. Not entertainment or travel or partying or any of those things that for me are great when you’re a teenager, but become less interesting as the more interesting and complex world of adulthood arrives. I want something to think about and do, that’s much more exciting than passive entertainment. I don’t even go to gigs much now, even for artists I really like. The sound is nearly always crap, you can’t see, and everybody pretending it’s the most ‘amazing’ thing they’ve ever heard (teenagers say that a lot), even when the band is a pale imitation of past glories. I don’t want to be a teenager again. People in their 50s have a role. To raise the young, look after the old, and lead their workplaces. Not to be teenagers obsessed with bands and gigs and alcohol and travel and selfies. There’s real joy in embracing that social role a 50-something is supposed to play. To lead, to use your knowledge and experience, at your prime. And not to dramatise every challenge as some personal social media curated wailing. Again, that’s for teenagers. Those challenges are there to be fixed, I can’t think of a better reason to get up every day, than to leave the world a better place for everybody at the end of it, than the day before. To fix things that need fixing, it’s fun, rewarding. Not to take selfies over the wreckage. Not to ‘discover’ myself, if you’re doing that in your 50s, you really need to grow up fast.