Friday, March 19, 2004

Does the old VCR suggest any life lessons for us, young and old, particularly before it becomes extinct? Is there a message in its well-worn keys?

Does the old VCR suggest any life lessons for us, young and old, particularly before it becomes extinct? Is there a message in its well-worn keys?

It would be a blessing if we could REWIND, could withdraw the unhelpful remark we made, reword the email we sent in undue haste, ask the questions we failed to pose or make the apologies we should have proffered.

It would be wonderful if we could Fast Forward to get out of trouble or get a preview of the consequences of a contemplated action. If only we could make the voice of conscience MUTE or even EJECT, big brother style, the people who cause us the most trouble.

The option to SLOW the frantic pace of our lives could benefit most of us. But I get the biggest VCR lesson from the PAUSE button which I operate with great frequency in my daily life.

I find I don't have to give an instant answer to every question, or share an immediate comment on every development, or rush to judgement, or even have pronounced opinions on every subject. Often we are not getting the varied perspectives on an issue on which to base an informed view. Better to stay silent and be thought stupid, as Denis Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher's late husband liked to say, than to open your mouth and have it confirmed. I have always enjoyed Peter Sellers' performance in Being there'.

There could even be a spiritual dimension to the pause, the waiting on the Lord, as those with a religious bent might call it. In TV life we operate the pause button readily when the phone rings so that we don't miss the action. Perhaps when faced with life's decisions, big and small, there's a place for that pause for reflection.

There was an old coca-cola slogan I used to hear in Germany, mach mal pause , and its English equivalent, the pause that refreshes'. Or as the pianist Arthur Schnabel said, The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah that is where the art resides.'