Three parts to this. I quite liked the first bit; the bit about being daring, different..and yes, even impractical. But not all the time. Surely that would be too damn exhausting and a great big pain in the butt for everyone else!
The second part: ok, integrity, imagination and vision are all good. Otherwise nothing would ever change would it? No wonderful innovations, no mad ideas that somehow work, no drive to make things better.
But the third: play-it-safers, commonplace, ordinary, used here with such disdain. Surely these things have their place in our lives too. We need steadiness as well as brashness. And who decides what is ordinary and what is extraordinary anyway. In the fabric of our own lives, don't we get to choose that? Everyone has a story as they say.
Despite Cecil's wonderful photographic and design legacy, if he was still alive I think I might be inclined to debate him on this.
What do you think?
image from here
I agree! We need a little bit of everything! I'm pretty impractical by nature. But we need balance in our lives! Can't all be off kilter all the time. And I love my play-it safer friends. It takes a village, right? :)
ReplyDeleteI agree Kerry, how BORING would it be if we were all the same (whether that be play-it-safers or not)? Variety is the spice of life, after all :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend my friend!!
A little bit of everything, at the right time, is probably the recipe for a happy, balanced, interesting life. I can be completely impractical and impulsive at times, but luckily I have a husband who is pretty level-headed, so he keeps me on the straight and narrow! But hey, everyone needs to lash out and get their freak on every now and then! Have a great weekend sweet...are there more cushions on the plan? K xx
ReplyDeleteYou have got to pretend be just plain ordinary when it is required of you too, I think. For people like me - us rare few - that is very difficult indeed. Now I must go back to that wank I was having earlier on.
ReplyDeleteAmen sister, I think you got it right there Kerry! Very cool quote though and Cecil Beaton lived an amazing life, I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall at many of his parties etc.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day my dear,
Jxx
Very interesting post and I agree with you. Everyone adds something to the pot of soup.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Jane
Well, if everyone was trying to oppose 'ordinariness' all the time then wouldn't being ordinary become alternative and innovative? Hmmm, I really liked this post Kerry, got me thinking.
ReplyDeleteKris
xx
Presumably our Cecil was talking about himself, but a world full of people just like him would leave no one to compare himself (favourably) with, so it's just as well there are the play-safers and creatures of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteI try to avoid being impractical in life. It makes life harder, no?
ReplyDeleteDebate is the purpose! Otherwise what he said could be taken as a rule... which Cecil himself would have broken~
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Cecil quote when someone was bemoaning the frequent deaths of friends as he grew older: "I'm just grateful if they make it through luncheon".
yep, agree its a very black and white statement isnt it?
ReplyDeleteits hard being fabulous all the time!! i couldnt do it that's for sure, i'm lucky if i jinx it every once in a while :)
have a great weekend darl xxx
Good post Kerry and I tend to agree with you. And I agree with Julie, we are fabulous most of the time aren't we? We just need those practical breathing spaces to allow us to be more fabulous! Have a lovely weekend. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi !
ReplyDeleteI had to read it twice before I understood the meaning of it. Now I agree with you !
We need both tranquility and a some madness :)
XO
Anci