Older, but no wiser

I’ve been rather wrapped up in the business of daily living lately.

It must have been hard for human creativity and intellect to evolve when the days were filled with routine that simply had to be done. The simple business of living sometimes leaves no space for contemplation, no moments when the mind is free to wander, exploring ideas or just observing. One day’s work momentarily halted, imagination moves only to the following days’ continued activity before sleep brings a brief respite.

So it was quite by chance that I happened to catch the last half hour of "To kill a mockingbird" yesterday whilst having lunch, my son having bought it on DVD.

Something in the story managed to bypass my preoccupation with mundane activities, and got through to give a brief stimulus to some part of me that’s got pushed to the side lately. It took a while to figure out what had touched me, but I think it was the way the story unfolds through the experience of a child. A perspective that manages to hold both the simplicity of childhood with the complexity of "grown-up" attitudes; an intuitive awareness of character. And the black-and-white filming is quite in keeping with the simple living and the issues of right and wrong portrayed.

This isn’t a critique of the film - like I said, I only caught the last 30 minutes. But the brief glimpse of different world viewed from a different perspective was enough of a taster gently to nudge me out of a rut of tunnel vision. I’ll have to go back and watch the whole film again.