A few years ago, when the children were young enough to be able to buy a family ticket, we spent a day at Camp Bestival, Lulworth Castle. Dave, my husband, hated it and retreated to the car with a newspaper for almost the entire time. He did come with us to the Big Top where Lee Mack was doing a stand-up routine where he proclaimed Camp Bestival to be Glastonbury for the middle-aged. I’m not so sure about that, as a toddler hanging off your hip appeared to be a compulsory accessory. This year I went back again with my daughter, now eighteen and my son of sixteen.
Fortunately, it was a warm day with plenty of sunshine even if it did turn a little windy as the evening drew on. We studied the programme and each of us chose something we wanted to do. My choice was to attend the RSA discussion on optimistic vs pessimistic views on the state of the world. Eliane Glaser argued for a good dose of sceptisim (rather than pessimism) particularly in view of ‘green-wash’ that sees petrol companies using fake green symbolism when their interests lie in oil production and bakers who promote whole food breads that in one slice, contain more salt than a packet of crisps. Laurence Shorter, on the other hand, talked about the search for happiness through optimism. Happiness is a choice, he argues so the advice is simple: if you’re not happy, get happy. After an hour of listening to the discussion, me and the children had plenty to talk about.
the writer is a lonely hunter 