If you aren't careful, you can get discouraged by thinking about the state of the world. One way around this is to ignore news programs and pundits' articles and essays. This has worked well for me.
Another technique is to think about what you can do today during your "off" hours, compared to your recent ancestors. They could spend their evenings watching sitcoms and commercials on television, or listening to pop music on the radio. There was no way for them to watch classic movies.
They had books, you say. Did they? How many books did they have access to in small towns? Compare that to the books and music available online to anybody anywhere today!
I thought about this when I was watching the Criterion Edition of the Russian movie "War and Peace" made in the 1960s. I am indeed fortunate.
Ironically this movie does tie in with world events. Consider the reckless saber-rattling and trouble-making by NATO and the USA's Deep State in Ukraine. I doubt that the troublemakers are considering any serious consequences of poking the Russian bear with a stick.
Let's relate this back to the movie "War and Peace." The first time I read Tolstoy's novel, I was struck by the hunting scene that took place just before Bonaparte crossed the river and invaded Russia. In that scene a teen-aged Russian countess went wolf-hunting with her bachelor uncle and his borzois. Instead of mooning over romance and balls like some sort of Russian Jane Austen heroine, she proved to be tough during the hunt. There was a wildness in her that came through.
That evening, she had a meal with her uncle. That was the famous "Natasha's Dance" scene. I once read a book about the literary history of Russia; the book was entitled "Natasha's Dance." It is probably the most famous image in this famous novel.
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| from winonamedia.net |
The French thought they were the Grand Nation and their ideas held complete sway; this molded their expectations of how Russia was going to respond to being invaded. They were in for a surprise.
Is the same true today? I don't know of course. But let's loop this back to the recklessness of NATO and the USA's Deep State in the Ukraine. Have they considered what could happen if Natasha still knows how to dance?
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