Life moves pretty fast

It’s been a little while since I wrote a blog post, however following a long day of “transponstering”, I thought it might be prudent to engage the vicissitudes of my cranium. Thus, in an attempt to move the ethers from the left hemisphere to the right hemisphere of the old grey matter, I thought it might be good to sit down and see where the words take me.

Now, this isn’t fully impromptu,I do have a little planning to call on. The muse has been fluttering around for a while looking for a place to perch. It first came into my awareness about six weeks ago when I went to the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace.

I was taken by how diverse the attendees of this event were. Yes, it was a little grey hair male dominated in certain places, however there were families, couples, older folk, younger folk, folk who are living with disabilities, those folk supporting other folk, and all in all, it represented a varied cross section of society.

I felt at that moment that it was clear that this represented a safe space. All these people were somewhere where they could invest their time and effort, and an extraordinary amount of hard-earned cash, into their hobby or just to watch some trains go by in a place free from external pressure.

There were conversations heard on how to build trees, how to install microchips into locomotives, the joy of seeing BRUTE trolleys modelled, (I’ll let you google that), how you can invest in a multitude of railway societies and what the current football scores were. This is pretty standard fare for an event such as this.

Ultimately whether you were a first-time visitor or hunting for something very niche, there were things there for you. When I say niche, I did, for example, see for sale from one group stall a pamphlet entitled, “The LSWR (London South Western Railway) use of low pressure pneumatic signalling”. I didn’t get a copy but, as part of my research for this blog, I just got lost on an interesting thread on the RailUK forums on that very topic. That system lasted for nearly 80 years apparently! Now there’s something you didn’t think you’d read about today!

To return to my point that is buried somewhere in a paragraph earlier on, this has made me think about why we go to these events. As can already be seen, there is discussion available online. I’ve been to a number of concerts and football matches recently, both containing content readily available via music or sport streaming services. So, what’s in it for me, and for all the rest of the people with whom I intersect at these various places?

It came to me last weekend on a visit to Lincoln. Like Joseph, I was returning to my ancestral home. Unlike Joseph, I travelled by train and my inn was of the Premier kind that provides a good full English in the morning. Nevertheless, as I walked the cobbles of Steep Hill, visited the Imp and completed one of my classic city yomps, despite it being four generations since a member of my family permanently lived in Lincoln, I felt a sense of belonging.

It’s an interesting word, “belonging”. The classic interpretation is, of course, finding a place where you belong. And this I realised was what I was seeing and experiencing at all these other events. A safe space to be you and to immerse yourself in a community of people with whom you share a passion. Whether conversing on that signalling, singing along at the top of your voice to an all-time favourite song at a gig, or cheering your team and hugging strangers at a football match – or any other activity of this type – it is that sense that you belong that I think is the great draw to these events.

In fact, if you’ll indulge me, I believe it may go one step further. May be finding a sense of belonging is in fact finding a place where you can fulfil your “longing” to simply “be”?

In a sense, these are the places where it takes the least effort to be yourself. There is no need for pretence or faux personalities. Having been to Comic-con a few times, I can think of no better example of an event where, if want to walk around in samurai armour, a French maid’s outfit or just wear that most geeky t-shirt in the collection, (yes, that one’s me!), no-one gives a monkeys. You can be you, unadulterated, and safe in the knowledge that wherever else you may go, here you will find a sense of self and ultimately, belonging.

The Dalai Lama famously once said, “we are human beings, not human doings”. I think we all long to follow those sage words and embrace “being”. I’ve enjoyed pursuing this goal recently and I plan to keep it going in the days to come. Sometimes it is good to just be.