Wednesday 10 February
Comfort cultural consumption. On my way home this evening the radio presenter was talking to author Jacqueline Wilson about how the updating of her much loved literary character, Tracy Beaker, had grown up. The children’s books that appealed to so many young people twenty years ago are looked back on fondly by people now in their twenties and thirties.
In the new book, Tracy is a mother of three, and one would guess that many of those who read the books as a child are now parents too. There will be many who (through nostalgia spectacles) will read the new novel, interested to find out what has happened to their childhood anti-heroine.
And in times of emotional challenge and unpredictable change, we look to such things as cultural comfort food. Walking the other day, when it was bitterly cold, snow was falling, and we remain locked down, we got excited about watching Star wars on the telly when we got home.
When I am feeling vulnerable, I know I reach for music and films from my youth to bring some sense of familiarity and certainty. They provide a means to self-sooth by connecting me to a time ‘before’ the uncomfortable and unsettling times we are currently in.
These cultural things also become transitional objects that we hold on to to help us move from one period of time to another. At school, we often encourage young children to bring something in from home if they are new or unsettled, or if they are experiencing some traumatic episode at home. It can provide a connection to a prior time of stability or to a person they love and trust.
Now, although I don’t remember going for many walks back when I was a kid, I do remember being outdoors alot. So, for me, and probably many others of my generation, this terrible time has provided an opportunity to have a trapse around near my home. And it has offered something more than simply getting a daily dose of exercise? I know I am getting to spend some quality time with my local flora and fauna, but I had not thought that I may also be tapping into some psycho-historical remedy.
On my way to work tomorrow, I will play some Carpenters in the car. It will remind me of living in Devon. Waiting on the stairs on Saturday mornings for Dad to come home with warm jam donuts from the village bakers. Here’s to cultural comfort consumption.
The Bald Birder 