Tag: nostalgia

The Journey to White Deer Park

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I am a bit of a bookworm. But in periods where I become a bit ‘stuck’, it can include finding it difficult to do hobbies, as well as create things. That means, i find it hard to relax to music and I just can’t focus on a book to read. Now, these can be issues, as both music and books are ways I like to relax. So sometimes, i feel like I just can’t unwind, and it is so frustrating.

So I made a choice to try and read 50
books this year. Its a big number, as I really struggled last year reading that same target, in fact I think I ready 11 books. 11 books in 12 months is really bad, as I used to read ALL THE TIME. So, in keeping of 2017’s plan I thought I’d try and red a book from my childhood to get me started.

The Animals of Farthing Wood.

It was a good idea. Because although the story was a lot mor simplified than I remember, was still super entertaining. And it made me think. If I want to do things, and am finding it hard, then maybe do baby steps. Working a really small bit towards your goal is better than working towards nothing at all.

When I was young Farthing Wood was a favourite. I read it so much, and became convinced I was going to get a pet fox. As a fox was one of the main characters. I loved animals, and the idea of different animals banding together to travel to a safer place, after the pond in their home of Farthing Wood is filled in by humans. People were building on their homes, and the animals leave whilst they still have the chance. But where do they go? To an animal reserve called White Dear Park, where they could all be safe. So the animals, a badger, fox, snake, weasel, mole, owl, rabbits, mice, voles and more, make a pact to live together in unity, until they reached their new home.

I read the book when the cartoon, based on the book, was aired on Children’s BBC, when I was about 10 or 11. The book disappoint, in fact, when I re-read it last week, it still kept me entertained. Okay, the way the animals all talked to each other was just like they were people, did annoy me. But it was still a book I could get right into.

So maybe, if you are struggling, try to do something you loved as a kid. It might help you re-discover why you love what you do, and give you the push to carry on.

Animaniac

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes I think I will never really grow up. After all these years, I still love a cartoon. Especially the cartoons I watched when I was wee. I think there is a huge feeling for nostalgia right now, covered in all the media. As if, someone somewhere, feels the need to make the rest of us feel unnecessarily old.

But as I said above, I still love older cartoons, so (in the midst of writer’s block) here is a wee top 10 list of my favourites. 


1) TaleSpin

2)Animals of Farthing Wood

3) The Silver Brumby

4) Chip N Dale’s Rescue Rangers

5) Aladdin: the Series

6) The Rugrats

7) Aaahh! Real Monsters

8) Hong Kong Phooey

9) My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

10) Daria

This choice was harder than I thought it would be, but it was nice revisiting some I hadn’t looked at in years. So, reader, distract yourself for a minute longer and tell me your favourite cartoon. It can be from now or from your childhood. Let’s be distracted together. 

Feeling Nostalgic?

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I do. 

All the time. 

I crave for the days of yesteryear, where my life was not filled with finding ways to pay my bills. Where all I did is watch cartoons, and spend entire summers outside playing with my friends. Dancing to the Spice Girls and throwing Barbies up trees (for Action Man to rescue, obviously). Those where what my summers were full of. 

And now, I find myself playing Zelda and Mario games of my youth, whilst watching remakes of game shows I loved. I watch DVD box sets of Chip N Dale’s Rescue Rangers and Talespin, to remind me of a time when life was so much easier. As if consuming an entire series of Disney cartoons could, in some way, delay adulthood. 

It is of course, impossible. But as a generation of workers, with what looks like a pretty bleak future. According to the news agencies around us, we are either going to get poisoned with pollution, die in an atomic war or run out of money and lose civilisation. What can a normal person do about all that scary stuff? Not very much. So people of my generation, tend to look back at the period of their lives where everything was so exciting, before the heavy fist of reality knocked us to the ground. 

I guess I want to say, that it is okay to be nostalgic of days where you maybe felt like more of a success. Where life was really easy, because you didn’t have to deal with anything, really. The hardest thing you had to deal with, was which kid were you going to play with today. And then teenagerhood came, and everyone played the victim. We started to realise that life was maybe not all fantastic, but we could still just read books or play video games as a bid to escape. And then, you have to deal with the real world. You have to find a job, get experience, get a house or flat, have a relationship, plan for a future… It can be overwhelming. 

So as a result, more people are picking what they used to love, what made them happier in their youth, and using them as a shield against the real world. That sounds a lot worse than I mean. The world, and the companies that run it, are harsh, they don’t care about the people who pay them money. You are jostled from place to place, expected to act a certain way, and be a certain kind of person. It is normal to use something as a buffer, to act as a cushion from harsh reality, and that could be many things.  Sport, fashion, books, DIY, car care, hiking, blogging, creating art, playing computer games… all ways to help people relax and be themselves. It doesn’t matter what it is, what matters, is that you find a way that helps you cope. 

So, don’t listen if others berate you for liking certain things. All that matters is that it harms noone, and makes you happy.  And others should remember that, people pick things that make them feel secure to help them relax. If it doesn’t effect you, why be so critical on someone else?