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It’s Lent. For some people, that means giving up something they enjoy. Last month, there were those who followed an annual routine of giving up alcohol for the whole of January. My proposal requires a different kind of self-denial, but one that might be genuinely useful to you professionally
Give up reading and talking about wine (apart from on a strictly professionally necessary basis, obviously) for 4 weeks.
Stop discussing the wines you’ve enjoyed. (You’re allowed a few words of appreciation, but no more). Stop reading wine columns, blogs and magazines. Stop responding to wine-related comments in blogs and on Twitter, Facebook etc. Stop wandering into wine shops and chatting to the staff. (Unless you have to do that professionally)
Find other things to read and talk about.
Try it, just for a month
Try to behave like 95% of your fellow wine-consuming citizens.
What and spend all that time talking about sport, politics, celebrity gossip and the weather?
ReplyDeleteI know it'll be hard!
DeleteHi Robert,
DeleteInterestingly, I've just downsized my wine world exposure & tried to get back to basics, studying & enjoying my wine in my own way & worrying less about what anyone else has to say about it. It’s been nice, it’s been me. Having said that, you’re on fire at the moment & your latest posts show why, if I’m ever left reading just a fistful of writers, you’ll categorically be one of them.
Tyrone: @winesonlyadrink
Thank you Tyrone.
DeleteSign of the times - hasn't lent come early this year? Already forced to give up on enough things, we might only be left with the virtual appreciations to connect to be part of the community. Surely there is a lot of noise and didn't realise that the Metamorphosis of media could transform Lent into an appropriate filter.
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated how literally people have taken this. I used Lent as a hook on which to hang a thought that is applicable to any time of the year: merely that people who are passionate about wine should stop staring at their own and each other's navels. I could say the same thing to people in all sorts if other sectors - people who imagine that a majority of other human shares - or could/should share their interests and passions.
Delete