Atrophy and Ambivalence.

The daily news continues to push my mind into a parlous state. I see a world run by men with ice in their hearts and greed in their eyes, while millions more seek to emulate them on some level or another. Greed for wealth and power, and in some cases, for glory. If only it were the right kind of glory, but such is a forlorn hope as long as we continue to laud the conquerors.

It seems to me that the world and its human cargo are now shifting into a desperate need for a reset, and we all should know that the transition will not be a pleasant experience.

For my part, I feel I’ve reached a point of no return. My prospects now consist of little more than sitting on a rail platform waiting for the last train out. Maybe I’m wrong; maybe it’s just another bad day when the god of mischance and malfunction is in a particularly malevolent mood.

*  *  *

I wrote the above before I watched the England women’s victory against Italy in the Euros semi-final. With just one minute of the match left the Italians were leading 1-0 and heading for their first ever Euros final. And then England scored a goal and extra time was needed. England scored a second goal to send the Italian girls out, and that was when a sense of ambivalence set in. The English were ecstatic, naturally, but the pitch was littered with young Italian women sitting or lying on the pitch sobbing their poor bloody hearts out. My feelings were, therefore, understandably mixed. That’s the problem I have when there have to be winners and losers.

But the best moment of all came during the other semi-final between Germany and Spain. During the first half the German goalkeeper pulled off two splendid saves from one of the Spanish forwards, and when the half time whistle blew the Spanish lady (and she must surely be a lady to my way of thinking) went over to the German and gave her a substantial embrace, presumably by way of congratulation. That, for me, was the highlight of the whole competition. Sport as it should be; the Corinthian ideal. Much kudos to Esther Gonzalez.

Such moments are the ones to hold onto when you’ve all but given up on the world as it is. (But you still have to wake up again the next morning.)