Well after about a year of people suggesting I ought to blog I've finally caved in. Props to Jonty Roland and Elle McAllister for suggesting it; and Marika, Gabriel, Will and Jo for being considerable inspiration.
Just in case you didn't know who I am my name's Bec I'm 22 and I'm currently living in Essex.
I'm polishing off my MA in Cultural Heritage Studies at UCL. All sorts of things about the world seem really interesting to me, but I'm particularly interested in people, how they think and behave. I also like to travel and have adventures.
But most of all I like telling stories and analysing social situations. So that's probably what you will find on this blog as time goes by. I'm currently supposed to be writing up my recent work placement in Germany, but this is proving worthy procrastination (maybe I'll write about it on here sometime, only the interesting bits obviously).
Today I wanted to tell you about a revelation I had in the car.
I am currently learning to drive and for several months have referred to 4th gear as 'Aunty Fourth'. Why? Because 4th gear has always struck me as an economic, sensible gear that keeps things turning over and running smoothly but it doesn't actively do much or have much power. Today I realised most of the gears could be anthropomorphised into members of a gear family:
First gear - first gear is like the baby in the family. When a baby screams grown-ups react pretty quickly. Similarly first gear has quick effects in actually getting the car up and moving. But it only does that first bit, once you've moved a few seconds down the road it becomes useless. On the journey of life we require new gears that enable us to move faster, more efficiently and with less rumbling in our engines. But interestingly in life, as with gears, when we come to have to do something difficult we often revert back to childlike behaviours; just as in cars you do manoeuvres in First.
Second gear - Second gear has got the energy of a small child. Its quite active, you use it when you want to weave in and out of residential areas and at times when something is to be negotiated. Its quite a powerful gear but you'd soon run out of puff if you did the whole journey in second. (I have to say I don't really understand why we need second, other than for turning corners, thoughts?)
Third gear - This is my favourite gear. (I often get told off for not moving into fourth on time, but I just love third!) Third gear is the teenager or twenty-something. Third is the gear for accelerating onto the carriageway, for physically getting somewhere.
Its a gear that does something.
Sometimes its not the most efficient gear to be in, and maybe we ought to be coasting a bit more, but with third you get stuff done.
I've already described 'Aunty' fourth but where does that leave Fifth or Reverse Gear?
I've had very little experience with fifth but when I've used it it just seems like an even more chilled out gear than fourth. What do you reckon?
Where does fifth fit in this family tree? I was half tempted to make 'Reverse' old-age. It would fit with a plethora of witty literary references and yet the voice of my conscience (my Mum!) leaves me feeling that actually old people do make positive contributions to the world in often quite active ways. And they do not always go against the current of younger generations either.
So where does 'reverse' fit in this system; does it stand for those little life crises we have, where it feels like we're going the wrong way but somehow we still manage to reverse somewhere useful?
And what about my love for third, will it wane with age such that by my mid-30's I prefer to drive in fourth?
Will I ever pass my driving test?...
Stay tuned for answers to these questions and more (reviews of cafes, interesting foreign escapades, social action projects)...
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