I don't usually do personal posts. Not my thing. Not the purpose of the blog either. But just recently I've been feeling strange. London has got bigger, and I feel smaller. In the movie theatre, in a gallery, in a bar...I've been noticing that there are literally hundreds of people on their own. It's a city of isolated individuals. And the means to interact, or more precisely the forums within which interaction used to take place - church, community, marriage even -are at their weakest in a generation. It's not my imagination. People are wandering around, wanting to meet people, but they don't know how to. Where do you go to meet intelligent, thoughtful, hopeful individuals? Nihilism, alcoholism and obsession are the bi-products of individuals losing the balance enforced by cooperation and companionship. Londoners are notoriously hard to get to know. And so they know nobody, retreating into a life of cultural feasting as a means of giving meaning to it all. It makes it an interesting place to live. But I'm not sure it makes it a good place to live.
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