` An Experiment on Reflection at Christmas

27/12/2014

An Experiment on Reflection at Christmas

Every Boxing Day my Grandparents host a wild party with all the pensioners on the block plus a few others and the rest of my family. Traditionally, each member of the family should provide some kind of entertainment for the guests and this year I was stuck. However, I eventually decided to run an exercise on reflection.

I asked each guest to write down something they'd learned or a piece of advice from 2014 and I've written down the results. They're really quite lovely.

Some were poignant and thoughtful...
  • No one ever quite disbelieves flattery 
  • Never be afraid to fail
  • Nothing matters too much in the grand scheme of things
  • Be happy for others
  • Australia and the Australians have far more history than I imagined
  • It's nice to keep up with old friends
  • The value of travel
Others were more humorous and light hearted...
  • I have funny knees [wrote my cousin in response to others noticing that his knees bend backwards a little]
  • just realised.. my memory recall is abysmal
  • Curiosity may have killed the cat but it was doing what came naturally
  • Anchor my Bonsai Trees against the high winds
  • Contrary to popular belief, they don't stand upside down in Australia
  • Don't live anywhere with "Puddle" in the name [my cousins live in Puddletown and previously lived in Tincleton]
  • We've got a rat in our back garden
  • Mistook a twitching cat's tail for a mouse that had to be caught [Should've gone to Specsavers]
  • To use an ipad, hooray!
  • Keep clear of rivers
  • Not to trust in the arrival every hour of the 31 Bus [This made the villagers laugh when I read this one out]
But this is what my Grandpa wrote and it is by far my favourite...
  • We learnt that the roof will rot, pipes will leak, electrical equipment will fail and copper cylinders will wear out. We are now sorrier, poorer and wiser. 

What I discovered was that you can learn a lot from others and every year brings new revelations. I'm glad I did this and I think I will do the same next time to see what the new year brings. Bring on 2015.

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