Frank is a middle-aged man with few things to live for. He lives in a dank, dreary flat in a part of the city that no one visits. He lives alone, no family, his only relatives are his successful brothers who, at best, send him a Christmas text every year. His job, if you can call it that, is in a low-life hole of a business washing other people’s garments for little pay, little satisfaction and no recognition. A life that fills no need, holds no worth, and to the majority of society, the disappearance of such an individual would be a mere flicker in the furnace of their hectic lives. Such a man as this requires something special to go on, and what it that ingredient to persistence, the cure to pessimism? Such a question can only be satisfied by the words of the beholder, only one in Frank’s position can answer that. As for me, an outsider looking on, I have little more insight than any other person. But the important thing is that there is an answer, there is something that can give you a spark of brilliance in a place of despair, some idea or philosophy that can provide someone with (seemingly) very little to live for, the cause and means to persist. As for Frank, he ended up owning that very hole of a business which he slaved away in. His life improved, so insignificantly to the rest of us, but for him, life was worthy. I guess the point I’m trying to make with this cliche of a fictional tale is that there is always hope, there is always a way out, even in the darkest and most evil corners of one’s mind, a solution is possible. However, the one common factor in all this, something that no one should hide away for too long, are those timeless values of hope, optimism, creativity. When you have the reins of these under control, life will open up, and you will find that there is nothing, nothing that can stop you…
woah hectic, i always thought the ‘Thomas Gleeson’ website was the red-haired comedian until oneday dan showed me haha. you should write a short article on our group.