Icarus' Fall

This winter seems endless. It is only the 20th of February but it feels like we have already gone through eight months of sleet and freezing mornings. The months between January and March are strange months in London. I wouldn't define it as a period of hibernation. Hibernation implies regrouping, resting, repairing. This period feels rather like as though the highs of summer and the festive season are necessarily followed by a balancing low. These are the months when we feel like Icarus falling. We call it 'I hate winter', 'SAD', 'fucking tube!' and in many other ways.

In those moments of high we feel like we must be experiencing happiness, for life seems so full, so meant to be like this. However, the slump that follows the high season always reminds me of the good old Greeks, and in particular Aristotle, who professed that long term happiness is never found at the extremes. A lot of religions and philosophies identify ultimate happiness as the lack of extreme emotions. One of the reasons for this is that extremes depend on each other to exist. In other words we can experience extreme happiness only if we have experienced extreme sadness. Aristotle thought that long lasting content is found in the removal of this rollercoaster of emotions.

Londoners do exactly that, they live through extremes. And perhaps that is why long term happiness is so elusive in London, and inevitably people 'move to the country', or seek the sun, or go for something less intense. Perhaps they do it for self preservation. In their mind they are making a life choice which is just a natural progression towards a happy life.

Perhaps they are just starting from scratch.