The Speed of Life

What is it I have to do to catch a break at the moment? So many things are changing in life at the moment – not all of them bad at all, but still many things are happening and some of them just need to chill out a little bit and allow me to catch the hell back up.

On the 28th October 2023 we lost the comedic genius Matthew Perry. The One Were The Laughter Died. Everybody’s Friend.. Chandler Bing. Watching Friends will simply never be the same again. Of course I knew of him from elsewhere, the West Wing upon which he had a recurring character arc, and later from Studio 60 where he played Matt Albie to Brad Whitford’s Danny Tripp, executive producers of a SNL style, late-night TV comedy show.

Matthew Perry was a troubled soul who openly admitted to having problems with addiction to drink and drugs in his past and although he will be remembered for his comedic delivery which was simply put.. perfection, he should also be remembered for his dedication to helping others who found themselves in a position of addition and recovery. I hope his legacy expands past his on-screen career to give him the recognition he deserves.

Matthew Perry was one of a number of ‘celebrities’ who appear ‘on my list’.. a list of people who I wanted to somehow meet during my time spent alive on this spinning ball of.. rock. Alas, another one has gone off to the void. Such a shame. Upsetting news to say the least.

I also found out recently that a friend of mine, well someone I have known off and on for the best part of 20 years, Flip had passed away after losing his battle with cancer earlier in 2023. I had known back in April he was ill and things were seemingly not progressing too well, however he was still hopeful back then and I am glad we had that moment to reconnect. I just can’t believe that we lost him. From my research, it seems it might have been back towards the middle of August when he passed – we don’t know for sure as the source this news came from was not one that was previously known to us. Rest in peace Flippy… Thank you for all the memories and laughs your brought to and shared with us. You won’t be forgotten.

I was recently back in London for a trip down that was planned to attend the first public conference of ‘ARC’ a new organisation setup by many critical thinkers of the world including Dr. Jordan Peterson. I’ve seen Peterson previously and wasn’t too impressed by his performance in the flesh. But I thought I would give him another go… As it turns out, I didn’t go. After what was a stressful day, I instead decided to go see some Dance performance instead. It was good, but wasn’t review worthy either. A way to turn a negative into a positive for sure, but nothing more.

While I was down I had some time to kill before I could check into my hotel. So I found myself heading towards what was my ‘home’ in London, Ealing. I got off the Elizabeth line at Ealing Broadway, my old haunt of a station and marvelled at how it has changed in the 20 or so years since I’ve been there. It’s changed a lot. Ealing on the other hand.. seems to be stuck in the early 2000’s. It really.. hadn’t changed much. Plenty of the shops that were there when I was there, are still there. Some have moved around a little, but all in all, not much to write home about there.

I went to Ealing to attempt to close some old doors that were left open from my time there. Slowly I will visit other parts of Ealing, Hanwell, Northfields and Boston Manor and close off those old doors to memories too. But this time it was the turn of Ealing. I visited the place where.. we lost Michael all those years ago, and I sat for a moment or two to pay my respects before hopping back on the train to head to the hotel.

The hotel is the same one I am sitting in now, the hotel with the worlds loneliest pint… Travelodge.. Wembley Central. It’s as basic as it comes. I don’t want to come back here. There’s nothing here for me. Except perhaps Wenzel’s.. They do make nice food!

But yes the point was, to try to close some doors to old memories that have remained open and drafty for the past years since I had to leave London. I still like it here. There’s just something about the place. But the streets are not paved with gold, or paved at all in places. It has it’s problems just like everywhere else. I think now perhaps.. I have past the point at which living in London is a thing that I get to do again. Financially I am nowhere, but I do enjoy visiting it, and it’s becoming less hard to accept the fact that I do have to leave it to go back home.

I am not sure if my visit to Ealing closed the doors it was supposed to or not, but its time anyway to let go of some of those thoughts and feelings. It’s needed because there’s so much changing going on, I need the mental head space for new memories to be formed and stored. Sometimes… It’s just the right time to move on.

If only I could take my own advice in all areas of my life… I have to find a way to apply a pause to the speed at which things are changing. So I can actually sit and enjoy some of them rather than just experience them as they go flying past at the speed of life.