We’ve been to the Eden Project once again! This time with no illness and it was a family visit. However, were too many tabs open in our minds? Perhaps there were….
Our eldest daughter lives in Devon, handy for the Eden Project in Cornwall. Sure, we stayed there last week and it was a nice family time. However I could see the cracks and evidence of too many tabs being open in her mind.
How did I know? Simply because I knew exactly how she felt, having been there many times in the past myself. It is that feeling where you are spinning lots of plates and just managing to keep everything together. Then just one more thing can bring everything crashing down. After all, there’s a limit for each of us on many plates we can keep spinning or tabs we have open in our minds.
One way that I managed those situations at work was having perfected the ‘little boy lost” stance, which was generally deployed when the photocopier jammed or some other technological problem cropped up. Of course, other methods were used, according to the situation.
Now in these days of blissful retirement you might assume those times are in the past? Not so. I find myself thinking “I’ve got too much on” with the inevitable picture of having too many tabs open on the computer screen or spinning plates starting to wobble. Now in my 6th year of retirement I find myself questioning if have the mental capacity for spinning quite so many plates these days.
While that may sound downbeat, it isn’t. While I think my capacity has changed, I find myself looking differently at situations and taking more of them in my stride. I also find I can still keep things in their mental compartment. Perhaps it’s a male thing, though I’m not completely sure about this? I find it easy to keep things separated in my mind. As an example, something crops up which is a worry. Instead of worrying about it there and then, I simply put it into the appropriate box in my mind and deal with it later on.
This knack of keeping things in mental boxes, combined with taking more of a lofty overview of things and then mixed with my natural optimism, it all seems to work quite well these days.
However, that’s all very well but I do need to check myself. It is so easy to get caught up with so many different things, we can get distracted from what is really important. There are only so many boxes and compartments in my mind, only so many plates I can keep spinning. I have to remind myself to keep the important things in mind and not be distracted by unnecessary things. Note to daughter? No, just me.
Eden Project
We first went to the Eden Project when our girls were very small and it hadn’t been open for very long. Now it has matured into a fascinating attraction near St Austell, Cornwall.
For those not in-the-know, you might wonder what those bubble-like domes are? Well they’re called biomes and they are in a regenerated, disused quarry in Cornwall. On the left is the tropical biome, kept at about 30°C and full of tropical, jungle like trees and plants. Even the occasional exotic bird will come and say ‘hello’ once you’re inside. The other dome is more temperate. Think Mediterranean, south west South Africa and you’ll be there. Cool winters and hot dry summers are the name of the game.
While I’m unsure of their exact mission, I can tell you what I reckon it’s all about. I was reminded about the beauty of our wonderfully designed world, also about the fragility when mankind messes with nature too much. We had some fascinating talks by the staff (who were called ‘explainers’) while we were there but it was the ~ almost throwaway ~remark of “if you see how these plants and trees have grown here over the last 20 years, just imagine how nature can repair itself in the wild” which was the most compelling. She was right and I marvelled at how incredible the natural world is. Surely it cannot have come about by chance?
Also I had wondered if it always rains at the Eden Project. Last time we visited, in early February, it rained and rained. This time (a month later) it rained all day long and our windscreen wipers were again on high speed overtime. We were pleased to get inside the biomes to dry off. As we were in particularly good health this time, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
All in all a good time for us all.
Eden Project website – click here
Ears
Regular readers will know I had my ears pierced a couple of years ago. Crazy, I know. It was a kind of mid-life rebellion having always toed the line. Since then I have enjoyed having very modest studs or small hoop earrings, although nowadays I don’t wear them all the time.
On the earlier post from February 2022 some people commented that I should have a second ear piercing or even (horrors of horror) stretch the holes. These didn’t really appeal to me.
However I did enjoy the occasional feeling of an earring moving a little as I moved my head. So yesterday I went back to the piercing studio and looked at their array of sparkly possibilities. In the end they have fitted me with a pair of titanium captive ball rings, just a little bit bigger than what I had before. These look pretty hardcore! Actually they are simply a bit heavier because of the little ball and I can feel them moving around as I walk upstairs or turn my head. I quite like that!
“The danger is” said the heavily pierced member of staff whose own ears seemed to jangle and sway as she moved around or leaned over. “You will feel naked when you take them out, you’ll feel something is missing when you go outside”. She had quite a selection of jewellery in each ear, also her nose, her lip. While that might have looked good on her, it certainly wouldn’t suit me, so please don’t worry!
As for whether I will feel naked without them, I will test that later on today….