Emin and M

Sometimes I am reading a book, paper or magazine and a line or phrase stops me in my tracks.  It's as though it has summed something up that I had been thinking or a tiny realisation has just occured.  I have to put the book down and let my head regroup.

There was a little phrase like this in today's Jemima Lewis column on the Telegraph website.  It is about Tracey Emin's interview earlier in the week where, to paraphrase crudely, she expressed a bit of disappointment about being single and childless.  I'm not wild about Tracey Emin's creative output but she is undoubtedly bright and has an interesting world view.

The phrase that she used which stopped me in my tracks was about parenthood.  She described it thus "The raw stuff, the thing that propels people through life, that's not happening to me." She preceded it by saying that material wealth was a poor substitute.

That really clanged a bell in my head.  I am about to leave home on a Sunday morning to go to work.  Most of my friends have children and although we all conduct our businesses and domestic affairs in similar ways, since I am single and childless, my motivation is very diferent to theirs.  They are just as tired as I am, in some cases more so, but they seem "propelled." 

I don't feel "propelled."  Some days I feel enthusiastic and other days I don't.  It set me thinking about motivation which is a very inconsistent friend to me.  I would love a better understanding of what drives me. 

When I first came across Maslow's Hierachy of Need a few years ago (I didn't go to university, remember) it helped things to click into place a bit more.  I assume most of you are familiar with old Maslow but here it is for those of who aren't.  Pay attention at the back of the class.

Whilst this is hardly a credo of mine, I occasionally hold my life up to the pyramid to see how I am doing.   

When you look at the bizarre and frenzied consumerism that we occupy ourselves with in the Western world, it suggests that a lot of folk are a long way from enlightenment.  I don't suppose that there is a cash figure or car specification at which you get promoted to the next phase; this sort of thing varies for individuals. (This survey suggests that most people would consider £13000 more than their current salary to be sufficient.  According to this survey, marriage brings the same amount of happiness as an £82 500 pay rise.  So if anyone amongst you fancies paying me £82 000 a year for my hand in civil partnership, you'll be £500 better off a year for starters)

Personally I'm a lot happier now that I no longer drive a BMW with a personalised number plate which suggests to me that I am making progress up the pyramid.  This isn't the same for everyone though - there are people in much flasher cars than mine that covet something bigger, faster or shinier.

Similarly I guess that it would have been just as likely for a private in the adversity of the trenches of the First World War to reach self-actualisation as for Louis XVI in the comfort of the Palace of Versailles.  The requirements for a happy and fulfilled life are actually pretty basic. 

I wish that more people would use Maslow as a measure of success.  Unfortunately my work and business are required to fulfil some needs that are not met elsewhere (which is true of this blog too to some extent).  This is far from a perfect state of affairs but at least it's a situation that I acknowledge.

Probably the world would be a happier, more peaceful and clearer place to live if it were run by pschologists.  It has never occured to me before but the world is seemingly led by greedy capitalist shith<*£s in the city (sorry, I bleeped that incorrectly, obviously I meant s$£>@heads) who are stuck on level 2 and vain, insecure politicians who can't get past level 3.