This Philosopher-in-Residence recently had a conversation with a septuagenarian, wherein somehow the topic got on to why things change their names. I hope to, but haven’t yet managed to endure anywhere near that many years on this planet, so I tried to play devils’ advocate and ask why it was a problem or something they were bothered about.

And it turns out, it was felt to be a forced-upon change, like altering the words or tune to a favourite hymn or song in a newer edition, the film version not matching up to the book version of a much-loved tale, or phones being migrated over to VOIP without consultation or apparent consideration of  what happens when there’s no internet signal or electricity.

I wanted to make this a pondering point for this latest nostalgia series blog as we are quite literally all existing and perambulating around a country that is comprised of areas that have national status of some description (think Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, England) and subsets of that geographical heritage – hence the title, On Wessex.

We don’t have any contemporaries that can cast their minds back more than a millennium, but if we did, the area now rather less attractively known as something like South Central, was once known as Wessex. To the best of my research knowledge, nobody is  clamouring for a return to Anglo-Saxon historic boundaries or nomenclature, but the point remains: things we once held as the fabric of our everyday lives, often change due to conflict, government or the passage of time and development of a fashion.

So the next time you hanker for the good old days – challenge yourself to ask if you are picking and choosing which bits, and if that makes political or anthropological sense.

Next fortnight I’ll be writing On Albion, for the third Nostalgia series snapshot – this could be the place for you and your coffee break in two weeks’ time. Please get in touch with any particular aspects of this subject you’d like me to write about.

In the meantime,

Happy Planning

PS If you want some other free tips for your business life, check out the Working Well blog – out fortnightly on Wednesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Productivity Expert, Pen Le Kelly. Browse the latest edition here:

https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/dont-be-the-cause-of-burnout-to-your-team-or-colleagues/