Variety is the spice of life.

I’m not on my own. Most people like variety in their lives. We get bored, don’t we, doing the same things over and again? Who would want to eat the same meal day after day?  Would you want to read the same book or watch the same film for eternity? Wouldn’t that be like being stuck in your personal Groundhog Day?

No, we wouldn’t like that at all. We enjoy some change in our lives.

In fact, the experts tell us that following on from the core basic necessities of life variety is one of the  six human needs. Apparently we need:

The Six Human Needs

Certainty – the comfort of predictability. A feeling of being safe and secure.

Significance – a feeling of achievement and being respected and needed.

Variety – surprise, entertainment, the novelty of a challenge, excitement.

Connection/Love – warmth, desire, togetherness

Growth – learning, strengthening and developing ourselves

Contribution – giving to others, serving

I hope I’m ticking the boxes in a positive way but it seems to me that when it comes to variety you can have too much of a good thing.

Too much of a good thing

In our overfed Western society we don’t have to eat the same meal everyday. There is such an embarrassment of choice on the supermarket shelves. Do we really need all this stuff? Isn’t this over-abundance of choice one of the reasons we have so much obesity today?

Here in the UK we talk about the weather. A lot. Usually the weather is changeable and mostly we’re prepared for it. Often you’ll hear us longing for a week in the sun.  But look what this year brought.

Who knew, when we were living with the Beast from the East during one of the harshest winters ever recorded, that this summer it would be hotter in East Anglia than in Majorca?

Be careful what you wish for! Months without our English rain has left parched fields. Lawns? Forget it. Farmers  worry about having enough winter feed for their livestock. Some areas are on hosepipe bans.

Drying reservoirs  echo what happened in the summer of 1976.

Learning from nature

So here’s how we can learn from nature’s lessons.

We have to accept change because change(variety) is absolutely necessary.  Sun and rain are vital. So are light and darkness. We need variety in our foodstuffs to stay healthy. And, according to the six human needs we need change and variety to feel more fulfilled and satisfied with our lives.

This is why I enjoy writing in different genres. I don’t want to confine myself to writing within a certain type of book just because it’s easier to find its place on the bookshelves. There’s excitement in the novelty of writing for different audiences.

But, just so I can tick the predictability box with my writing you can be certain that all my stories will feature people with problems to solve. I may choose a humorous treatment to tell the tale or a darker, psychological angle may be more appropriate. There will be love or the lack of it, respect or cruelty, darkness and light in order for my characters to grow.

Just like real life.

Till next time . . .