Looking Back
Vintage nature docos, shunned genius ideas and a truly bad year...
Is the fourth week of January too late for a New Year post?
How about an end-of-year reflection post?
How about no?
Good, because this newsletter is a little bit of both. I’m in the slow January haze of post-December frenzy and summer holiday vibes that make a new year an exciting proposition. But before I set aspirations, I like to take a look back. As much as I want to throw 2021 in the bin and light it on fire, I know there are lessons to be learned from looking back. Like, what did I hope to do and did I do it? Was I a nice person last year? Did I enjoy it?
There are gems of knowledge to be learned from retrospection that can help enrich our future. I think that’s true of life, and of what we know about the world.
So, in the spirit of appreciating how far we’ve come to better guess where we should go, let’s stop and check the rearview.
More from the past…
WATCH: In Beaver Valley
Part of my COVID recovery strategy was putting our mattress in the lounge room, living in front of the TV and watching an equal balance of thrillers and feel good easy TV. I wanted to be captivated and cheered up, oblivious to the sunny summer days I was missing out on.
This is when I discovered the award-winning True-life Adventures series on Disney. I was instantly enamoured by the grainy film, tinny PG-13 narration and fantasia-like background score. If you imagine a vintage nature documentary with all the hallmarks of classic Disney, True-Life Adventures is it. The oldest one on Disney+ is called In Beaver Valley (1950) and honestly, I was expecting Bambi to skip out onto the prairie at any moment.
The series is a far cry from Planet Earth in time, technology and content so don’t go in expecting Attenborough. It’s something you’d watch with kids, to mindlessly soothe a fever or because you love old-timey things. It’s like a Hepburn film, but nature and naturally, I loved it.
LISTEN: Worst Year Ever
This is for all the “2022 = 2020 two” pessimists. Yes, COVID could continue to wreak havoc, but could it be worse than the global misfortunes of 536AD? Where a supervolcano thrust the earth into an extended winter, dimmed the sun to extinguish shadows and caused a failure of bread!
I sure hope 2022 isn’t worse, because bread... My faves over at RadioLab make the case for 536AD as the Worst Year Ever. It’s the sort of disastrous story that will fill you with hope and gratitude.
READ: 5 Times People Thought a Science Idea Was Crackpot, And Were Proven Spectacularly Wrong
This is the breakup of the supercontinent ‘Pangea’ in gif-speed. In the 1920s Gregor Mendel proposed that all the separate landmasses that made up Earth were once connected. In the 1960s more advanced technology and science proved him right, but until then the rest of the world thought he was crazy and wrong.
The start of a new year is a good time to remember that “every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realised, it becomes commonplace." Robert H. Goddard said that. Before he was known to be right in his ideas about space exploration, he too was ridiculed.
You may not be on the brink of a eureka, but if you’re going for something don’t let the naysayers stop you. It also might be a good idea to not hold onto ideas too tightly because you never know when they’ll go from right to wrong. Ah, hindsight… a wonderful thing that we never have when we need it.
Theme Song: All Night Parking - Adele
When a glance at the past turns into the music of the present, you get a yummy gift. This one is by Adele who takes a snippet of Erroll Garner tickling the keys for ‘All
Night Parking’. The perfect soundtrack for a blissful reverie or dreaming of exciting times ahead.
Thanks for reading,
Alegria