The ‘honey’
in this sense is metaphorical, in fact everything is. I have decided in my great wisdom or foolery (I
haven’t decided which yet) that instead of sitting around idly complaining about
the world and mischievously preaching my principles, I am going to be the busy
bee.
It’s not that
I’m a bad bee and I am usually rather busy, but as a test to myself and to the
world I am going to try and be a better bee. There are so many things that I
think I know about and think I believe in and care about but in reality all I
do is talk about them. I don’t actually do anything about them at all.
I don’t mean
to sound self-deprecating and this isn’t about ‘find myself’ or ‘growing as a
person’ or bee, and generally being
irritatingly pretentious, but really, what is the point of having principles at
all if you’re not going to stick to them properly?
So I’m going
to. Me and the bee. Or me as the bee to be more exact. I am not going to mope and complain and fall
to idleness and continue to mischief but seize the shining hour. The honey is
my virtue, my principles, my human excellence, arête, moral character - take
your pick! And how can I find it? By visiting the flowers!...OK so may have got
too wrapped up in metaphors here. To explain more successfully, the flowers are
going to be the tasks I’m setting myself, the opportunities that are out there
for being a better bee.
For example,
I know there is a great problem of overfishing that is seriously damaging the
oceans and all that live in and off it. But, do I ever check how my fish fingers
were caught? Nope. So, for one week I shall set myself the task of only eating fish
that was line caught.
Example two: the idea of cosmetics being tested on animals
makes me feel sick, but do I wear make-up? Thankfully for the world I do, but
not thankfully for the monkeys. So, for a week I will try not wearing make-up,
god forbid, or only wear make-up that has been approved by animal rights
charities.
Are you with
me now? Obviously this is going to take some research but before each task I
shall try to explain to the best of my abilities why and what I am doing. Then,
when the week is up I shall report back on how easy/hard it was, could I
continue it, do I think after trying it that it is something that makes me feel
better about who I am.
I suppose, the whole point of
this blog is to see whether it’s possible to be the sort of person you want to
be. We hear all the time about things we should and shouldn’t be doing to keep
the world from falling into disrepair and what’s good and what’s bad. The line
between right and wrong these days is so wide and wobbly that it’s no wonder most
people, including myself, end up wandering precariously down the middle.
The bee improves the shining
hour, so that’s what I will attempt. Not change the world, not change myself
even, but improve slightly, by gathering honey.
