Dance, dance, dance... Poppies and Cornflowers...

Poppies and Cornflowers

Over lockdown, this poster below graced an ugly, non-descript electrical enclosure in the town centre and seemed to bear some beautiful yet cautionary message.

Had the music just come to an end? Were we simply left to take stock of the silence, since we had taken all for granted beforehand? Or was this a warning too late, to make the most of everything we have, and not simply to be deaf to all but the noise of materialist gain?

Perhaps it was a combination of all these things.

In fact, it was a quote from the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, and is taken from the novel Dance, dance, dance, written some 30 years ago. I haven't read this particular book - I loved South of the Border, West of the Sun - but some of its other quotes seem eerily relevant, given the current context.

Advanced capitalism has transcended itself. Not to overstate things, financial dealings have practically become a religious activity. The new mysticism. People worship capital, adore its aura, genuflect before Porsches and Tokyo land values. Worshiping everything their shiny Porsches symbolize. It's the only stuff of myth that's left in the world.    Haruki Murakami

How do we surmount what is seemingly unsurmountable?
We have to make the most of what we have around us - open our eyes beyond ourselves and our lifestyle choices - and dance.
                                              Just don’t let your feet stop.    Haruki Murakami

Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Fairly, and if possible, sincerely.    Haruki Murakami,