You know those people who wished they’d never needed to leave school? Some become school teachers, others will try and continue on in the education system, degrees, masters degrees and so on. It’s a little like the weird relationship that builds up between some kidnappers and their victims, spending so much time together they form a strange bond whereby the kidnapee can end up trying to explain their captors reasons for committing the crime. The fact is that a lot of us are institutionalised, I could take it further and say that from my own personal experience, I have met residents of mental health homes who never wanted to leave. Even if the reality proposed by us makes no sense through a process of conformity, the proliferation of cultural norms,  calls for mindless subjugation. Backed up by threats of ridicule or even ostracization of those unwilling to abide by the subconscious mass, we finally amalgamate into societies over the short term. Over the longer term if enough "deviants" to the cultural norm amount to an opposing force, they will form a concurrent belief system which will eventually either target or be the target of an ideological war. Hence religion.

Individuality should be sacred, however there’s a lot in our history to prove to ourselves just how much we are like sheep, we herd together, we seek the comfort of others of our kind, we bleat. Once the population grows we begin to divide into smaller and smaller groups, which we the human race designate by colour, creed and geographical location. Within these sub-cultures more and more complex behavioural patterns, culturally biased opinions as well as language differentiation. ermerge If one does not conform to this status quo one is classed as an outsider, a foreigner, mentally ill, or subversive. The programming of our race has led to a high percentage of humans losing confidence in themselves and their position in life, for those who do have an innate ability for cultural absorption can physically, economically and socially take advantage of them. This is when things get really messy.

There are a lot of people who believe it is merely a matter of education, many in high-powered business will have at some point or other employed the services of personal consultants to improve their dress sense, their physical appearance, their voice, their body language and much more. The mechanisation of man won’t involve some fantastical vision of bio-technology and artificial intelligence, it’s happening right now, and it in our brief present, this snapshot of eternity it seems almost imperceptible. Man is becoming a drone, a corporate slave programmed to do its employer’s bidding, without thought, without question, automatically for no more reward than a list of numbers stored in a file on a banking server.

The point is that most people, deep down, don’t know who to be – they know a lot about life, they know what they like, but they don’t like what they have or are and so they end up trying to pretend to be someone or something they’re not, Some people won’t ever know or maybe they just don’t want to, but some just need a kick start, a reminder of what, who, why and where. I don’t go in for religion as such, not organised religion anyway, I will build myself my own personal belief system every few years and then spend the next three or four pulling it apart. From those remains, keeping the ideas and feelings that have stood me in good stead, those that don’t are in the reject pile which probably only gets a look in on special occasions, or perhaps just nightmares.

Either way there are plenty of people who don’t want to immerse themselves in themselves, they might not have the time or inclination, but mainly they’re just scared. Scared of themselves if you like. Most of the time it just takes a few choice words to put them on the right track, that’s how Gurus have made a good living from delivering the obvious for thousands of years. But you don’t need a guru, it’s like the argument that all the recreational drugs you’ll ever want are already there – secreted in your brain, any illicit substance you take is just a trigger not the gun itself. The same goes for knowledge, just the tiniest but oh so most pertinent piece of information delivered in the right manner, made-to-measure, can change your life.

I was trawling blogs today and came across an article at Vidafine about The School of Life, and somehow I think this place might just be onto the right idea. Vidafine’s blog featured this photo of the school which really pulled me in:-

"The mundane is to be cherished"…

Here’s a quote from Helen Keller – "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart". It’s how you feel that affects what you think, see, hear, touch, taste, smell. Yf you feel angry the world is angry with you, if you feel tired the world slows down, if you want to die no one cares, and if you want to be left alone, you won’t get a minute’s peace. The School Of Life’s aims allow people to take control of their lives in a new way, no formulas, no mantras, no glib sound bites to mesmerise yourself through one day to the next, just common truths.

They offer a selection of strange but not bewildering services, including courses on a diverse range of subjects such as Love, Politics and Play. Educational holidays, one of which is entitled A Voyage in Epicuriosity which essentially shows you how food, the consumption of and the experience of consumption itself can affect your life. Historical and social aspects of foodstuffs and their place in our society, offering gastronomic expeditions to kitchens, laboratories and specialist food shops across London to back up their case. There are conversation breakfasts and dinners, the idea slightly reminds me of a Monty Python sketch but who knows, if it’s early or late you might be more open to new ideas, or old ones formerly discounted.

The idea of offering non-religious sermons intrigues me too. Employing the services of cultural mavericks from all walks of life, expect the same degree of Baptism by fire but from an alternative cultural perspective. Asides all this are plenty more events, larger gatherings and such, they even have psychotherapy sessions on hand, both individual and group. I may need to book in for some of those myself, I’ve just noticed I read psychotherapy as psychometry rather a few times there. Perhaps it’s a message from the other side – quick get me a Ouija board. Then again I could just be tired here.

I don’t know, is S.O.L leading the way or simply confusing the issue? Still a nice poster all the same. Cherish the mundane, it might be all you will ever have. Still if you can rise above the general malaise, do so and help those less fortunate than you to develop a deeper understanding of our existence, an intolerance for futility, an egoless ego if you like. We, I , everyone needs some of that right now, those on top are getting too fat to carry their own weight, and this consumer-led conformist self-dictatorship is turning staler every minute.

This post is tagged art, life, London, philosophy, school of life, weird