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"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
There's a man here who does Tai Chi on the beach. I say beach, that sort of suggests sand, or pebbles, it's a sandstone slope down to the sea really but as it's the bit of land which runs into the sea, and I can think of no better word for it, I think we can call it a beach. Foreshore maybe.
Anyway, he does his Tai Chi 'forms', as I believe they're called, and runs through his postures, his movements. Concentrating on the movement of the body, on these forms, is said to bring mental clarity and inner calm. I'm all for that, a worthy aim, either of them. Then, for a while, he stands on his head. I don't mean he stands feet upon his head, that would require remarkable balance and suppleness, I mean he balances, upside down, legs in the air, on his head.
I am, perhaps it's an English thing, acutely and intensely averse to doing anything which draws attention to myself in public. I
quite shudder at the very thought. I prefer to slip quietly through life, unnoticed. So standing on your head, in a public place, in nought but Speedos, made me question why he chooses this as his venue. Why not in the privacy and seclusion of his own home? Does the sound of the sea and the sun on his skin add to his inner calm? Does he like the attention? Perhaps the breeze feels nicer upside down. I can only say that were I to attempt public gymnastic displays, it would have a profoundly deleterious effect on my inner calm, not improve it.